Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 15, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian held its own for most of the way against No. 15-ranked Midwestern State (Texas) on Saturday night, but a couple of defensive errors by the Eagles in the first half proved costly.
Midwestern State took advantage of those two mistakes, scoring both times, and held on for a 2-0 win over OC at the Eagle Soccer Field.
The Mustangs – certainly the best team OC has played this season – outshot OC 27-16, but most of the Eagles' chances were of high quality, as evidenced by the 10 saves made by Midwestern State goalkeeper Noah Fazekas. His OC counterpart,
Evan Helker, also had a strong outing with nine saves, helping keep the Eagles close.
Going against a strong south wind in the second half, OC (4-9-1, 2-7-1 Heartland Conference) produced a handful of good opportunities. One came in the 64th minute, when Fazekas made an outstanding save on a shot by
Ante Susic, then catching a break when
Anthony Buchanan's follow shot off the rebound banged off the crossbar.
Another OC shot was cleared off the goal line by an alert defender, and in the 85th minute, a terrific lead pass from
Sergio Flores slid just out of the reach of
Stephen Tower, who had an open goal in front of him.
"Credit to them," OC coach
David Scott said. "We made two mistakes in the first half, really, and then nothing. I didn't feel they really created quality chances on us, other than the two mistakes we made. Credit to our guys in the second half for coming back and working and generating good chances."
Midwestern State (11-2-1, 9-1) earned a penalty kick in the 33rd minute after OC's first defensive error. Patrick Fitzgerald converted for the Mustangs, but just barely got his shot past Helker.
In the 42nd minute, Helker saved a close-in shot by Jacob Hernandez but the carom went to an unmarked Pierre Bocquet, who scored to put the Mustangs up 2-0.
"The difference was, we make those little mistakes and got punished for it," Scott said.
The Eagles will return to the road next week, visiting Dallas Baptist (Texas) on Thursday and St. Edward's (Texas) on Saturday.
