Pilots thrive on rainy night at Saint Thomas
September 29, 2012
HOUSTON, Tex. - The heavy rains, wind, playing down a man for most of the second half, and a lightning delay could not stop the LSU Shreveport men's soccer team from picking up a win on the road in Red River Athletic Conference play as they came away with a 2-1 victory over St. Thomas at the Houston Amatuer Sports Park on Saturday night.
St. Thomas (2-7, 0-4 RRAC) took advantage of the lightning delay with 15 minutes to play in the game to build some momentum when play resumed as they netted their first goal of the game two minutes after play resumed following the 30-minute delay to make it a one-goal contest with the Pilots already down a man.
Jose Cordova received a pair of yellow cards earlier in the half for aggressive play forcing the Pilots to play a man down for the final 32 minutes of the contest.
LSUS (7-2-1, 3-0-1 RRAC) did a great job of forcing pressure to keep St. Thomas on their heels despite being a man down as they took four shots in the game's final 10 minutes to produce three corner kicks and keep the ball on their end of the field.
As the precious seconds ticked away St. Thomas had some chances but the stellar defense by the Pilots and keeper Lance Quini, who had a total of seven saves on the night, keep the Celts from tying the game.
The Pilots scored a pair of goals in the first half to give themselves a cushion heading into halftime. Alan Arroyo headed in a Rodrigo Pontes pass 11 minutes into the game. Thirteen minutes later the two changed roles and it was Pontes scoring on an Arroyo pass for the 2-0 advantage.
The next game for the Pilots will be on Thursday, October 4th, against University of the Southwest in Hobbs, New Mexico.
