BUDA, Texas – St. Edward's University Men's Soccer moved to 6-0 in Heartland Conference play on Sunday, and clinched the regular-season title with a 2-0 win against Lubbock Christian. The game was rescheduled and then moved to Bob Shelton Stadium at Hays High School due to heavy rain in the Austin area over the weekend.
SAMUEL JACKSON scored his fourth goal of the season and second game winner this year in the 60
' while
PABLO COVARRUBIAS notched his eighth score as insurance in the 72'.
KARL DE ZOETEN tallied a season-high two assists for the Hilltoppers, and
JOSH TAYLOR added an assist of his own, increasing his team lead to nine on the year.
KEVIN LEIB turned in a clean sheet with a pair of saves for his eighth shutout of the fall.
"It's great to win the Heartland Conference Regular-Season Championship again," said head coach Brian Young. "The players deserve it. They players fought hard against a well-coached team and got a deserved 2-0 win. We set four goals in preseason and one was a regular-season conference championship. The other three goals are still out there for the players to achieve. It won't be easy against Texas A&M-International and St. Mary's."
Rainy skies from the weekend gave way to dry and windy conditions to open the game, and St. Edward's chose to work against Mother Nature in the first 45 minutes. The Hilltoppers proved to be up to the task, as they possessed the ball in their attacking half for most of the period. However, the first hint of offense would come from the visiting Chaparrals with a header going wide left in the 3', and then a shot on frame in the 17'. A diving save from Leib would keep the game scoreless. Despite multiple crosses into the box from Topper midfielders, the half would come to a close with no goals scored.
A lack of offense, with just eight total shots in the first half was made up for by physical play on both sides as a combined 21 fouls were called. Included in the violations were two yellow cards for LCU and one for St. Edward's.
In the second half St. Edward's offense would come alive. With less than 15 minutes run off the clock Taylor played a ball to an unguarded de Zoeten on the near sideline. A flick of the senior's foot sent a textbook ball across the mouth of a goal where a running Jackson was waiting to head it into the back of the net. Quickly following the restart, Covarrubias would send a shot high, but the sophomore midfielder would not be stopped.
A series of Hilltopper corner kicks yielded no results. However, in the 72' de Zoeten would again find himself out wide and unguarded. Another cross through the box found the foot of Covarrubias who one-timed it to the back of the net. There would be no letdown from the Topper defense, as Leib remained unchallenged for the remainder of the match and St. Edward's clinched the win.
The win gives coach Young his fourth-straight Heartland Conference title. St. Edward's has not lost a match in league play since October 28, 2013. The team will look to continue their streak on Thursday at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M-International on Lewis-Chen Family field. Fans can find live stats and video for the game online at GoHilltoppers.com.
