Pilots play hard but tie HTU
September 20, 2012
AUSTIN, Tex. - The LSU Shreveport men's soccer team played a tough opening match in the Red River Athletic Conference and left the Onion Creek Soccer Complex with a 1-1 tie against the Huston-Tillotson Rams.
Rodrigo Pontes put the Pilots on the board 43 seconds into the second half who found the back of the net after a crisp pass from Alan Arroyo for a 1-0 lead. The Pilots fought hard to maintain their one-goal lead but a called hand-ball led to the Rams with a chance at a penalty kick which they converted to tie the game at the 70th minute.
HTU (2-0-2, 0-0-1 RRAC), the defending RRAC regular season and tournament champion, came out hard and outshot the Pilots 28-16 but the Pilots defense did a superb job in stopping penetration and not letting the Rams get a good shot on goal.
The Pilots net-minder Lance Quini had another magnificent performance with 12 saves of the 13 shots that the Rams put on frame.
"I'm proud of our performance today against the defending conference champs. We came out with a purpose and I think we played well enough to win the game and we should have. A couple of things did not go our way but all in all it was a great team effort and I can't say enough about the job that Lance Quini did today as well as our back line," said LSUS Head Coach Mike Aguilar.
LSUS (4-2-1, 0-0-1 RRAC) played hard the rest of the way but could not convert.
The Pilots will move on to face the SAGU Lions on Saturday afternoon in Waxahachie, Texas, at 3 p.m. Both squads will be in search for their first RRAC win of the season as the Lions fell to Northwood 5-2 in their first RRAC-match.
