Crusader soccer pushed through a tough weekend — men and women suffered loses to Trinity University and a respective win and tie versus Schreiner University. However, even amidst difficulty, both teams are set to advance to the conference championship.
In their penultimate game of the regular season, women’s soccer fell 4-0 to the undefeated Trinity University.
Following one goal in the first half, Trinity played a strong second half, tallying three goals. The Crusaders were overshadowed by Trinity’s fourteen shots on goal and an own goal late in the second half. Goalie Olivia Severson totaled eleven saves.
Following this loss, Dallas ranked third in conference.
On Sunday, the Crusaders played their final match of the regular season, resulting in a tie against Schreiner University.
After a scoreless first half, Shreiner scored at the 60-minute mark. Dallas countered with an unassisted goal by Elisa Duran at 73 minutes. Tied at the end of the second half, the game headed into overtime, but reached its end without a victor.
Following the tie, and due to other game winners in conference that day, the Crusaders sit in the fourth seed heading into the conference tournament, their highest ranking since 2014. Set to play fifth seed, Texas Lutheran University, on Friday, Dallas hopes to replicate their 2-0 win against TLU that occurred earlier this season.
“Both games were well fought games,” said sophomore Monica O’Donnell. “Our defense played really well and the team as a whole worked well together. We are looking forward to the conference tournament this Friday and our first game against Texas Lutheran University.”
Men’s soccer also fell 5-1 to Trinity University this past Friday.
Trinity grabbed the lone goal of the first half. The Tigers garnered the next two goals in the second half. At the 67th minute, Jose Martinez scored his first goal of the season for the Crusaders. A pair of goals from Trinity followed, securing their win. Goalie Sean Carlin made six saves.
“Our tactics seemed correct initially as we held them to a low shot count,” Coach David Hoffmann said. “The first goal was off of a set-piece…so we kept that going. We had a substantial bit of bad luck as they had multiple goals off of deflected shots.”
On Sunday, the Crusaders made an exciting second half comeback to win against Schreiner University.
After a goal at the 30-minute mark for Shreiner, a quick pair of goals put Dallas in the lead. Chima Ogueri, assisted by Hunter Haugland, and Haugland, assisted by Chase Reynolds, each claimed goals at the 65th and 68th minutes, respectively. Haugland sealed the win with a goal in the 76th minute.
“SU came out with good energy on their senior day,” said Hoffman. “With around a half-hour left we made some large scale tactical changes. We scored seconds later … and that turned out to be a good sign. Second and third goals followed quickly and we were able to see the game out without too much drama.”
With this win, Dallas claimed a place in the conference tournament on Friday. Ranked 6th, they will once again face third seed, Trinity University.
