WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team upset bid of No. 13 St. Edward's came up short on Friday night in the Heartland semifinals as the Buffs allowed two second half goals in a 2-1 defeat. Mirza Dizdarevic put the Buffs up 1-0 in the first half before two late goals from the Hilltoppers dashed WT's dreams of a place in the final. With the loss, WT's overall record falls to 14-5-1 while St. Edward's improves to 16-2-1 and will play the winner of Midwestern State/Newman in Sunday's final.
"It's a disappointing result but you have to credit to a tough St. Edward's team," WT men's soccer head coach Butch Lauffer said. "I am proud of our team for their effort tonight and the effort they put in all season. This team did a lot of great things like winning 14 games and getting to the conference semifinals."
After a back-and-forth first half the Buffs nearly went ahead in the 22nd minute when sophomore Ivan Ulloa spun away from his defender near the edge of the penalty area before his shot narrowly went over the crossbar. Tom Cowling would have another chance just a minute later but his shot inside the penalty area was blocked.
The Buffs finally broke through the Hiltoppers defense going up 1-0 on a header from Mirza Dizdarevic. The junior midfielder scored his third goal in four matches as he got in the way of Troy Reeves' header towards goal deflecting it past a motionless Kevin Leib in goal.
WT finished the first half with four shots and two corners.
Patrick Satorie kept the Buffs ahead 1-0 with an absolute beauty of a save at 57:04. The junior positioned himself well to deny Dylan Armstrong's point blank header and preserve WT's lead. Felipe Silva had WT's best scoring opportunity in the second half at 67:53 when he found separation from his defender after a nifty move just outside the box but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
The Hiltoppers tied the match 1-1 at 79:07 when Ty Mobley got on the end of Armstrong's corner kick before Owain Hoskins scored the game-winner with just 25 seconds left on a shot from 25 yards out.
The Buffs finished the match with a 13-12 advantage in shots, three of those shots on goal.
Satorie finished the match with five saves, three of those coming in the first half.
The NCAA will announce the four schools that will represent the South Central Region on Monday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. (CT) on a selection show on NCAA.com.
Notes:
· With the loss, the Buffs now lead the all-time series 13-7-0.
· Four of Mirza Dizdarevic's five goals this season were scored in the first half.
· Troy Reeves recorded his first career assist on Dizdarevic's goal.
· WT fell to 13-1-0 when they score first.
· The Buffs allowed two or more goals in only three of their 20 matches this season.
