Doda and Neil Lift Pilots to Conference Final
Texarakana, TX—The Men's soccer team clenched their conference championship slot Thursday evening as they rallied back from a 0-1 deficit to rival LSUA. With the victory the Pilots move to 13-3-3 overall while the Generals drop to 6-7-3 and see their season come to an end.
The Pilots dominated the first half of the match maintaining steady possession, but LSUA was able to lock them out and prevent them from finding the back of the net. The Pilots had three corners within the first seven minutes of the match applying heavy pressure to the Generals. The Generals however would get off the first shot of the match seeing Emmanuel Esquivel spring into action and making the save. The match remained scoreless as the Generals were the only team to get off shots in the half with Esquivel making two saves and keeping the Pilots in the game. The Pilots however had four corners and eight free kicks that put them close to the Generals goal. The two teams entered half time scoreless and in need of resituating.
The second half got off to a quick start as the Generals found the back of the Pilot net from a deflection just five minutes in. The Pilots revamped their energy and pressed on ripping off several shots that just could not be converted. But in the 68th minute Gledi Doda answered the call for the Pilots when James Averies was able to connect. All tied up back at 1-1, the Pilots lit a fire like no other and went to work chipping away at the Generals. Scott Neil rose for the Pilots with just two minutes to go in the match and secured the victory with a ball slipped past the Generals goalkeeper. The Pilots were able to lock down the Generals for the closing seconds of the match and secured their berth to the Conference Championship.
Head Coach Phillip Bohn said, "I'm happy we got the result today of course… win and advance. No one cares how. We were definitely not at our best but found a way. Very happy for the boys showing the grit to come back from the dead to advance. Gledi was outstanding when it mattered most again. Scott earned man of the match playing outstanding. His game winner was obviously huge. We have to regroup, recover, and prepare for the big one Saturday afternoon."
The Men's Soccer team will be back in action Saturday November 12th as they take on the winner of the Louisiana Christian and Houston-Victoria semifinal. Kickoff is set for 3:30pm from Eagle Field in Texarkana, Texas.
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