OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team picked up its first ever Heartland Conference win on Saturday against Oklahoma Christian. The Buffs defeated the Eagles 3-0 thanks to two goals from Mirza Dizdarevic. With the win, The Buffs improve to 4-2, 1-1 in conference play while the Eagles fell to 2-4, 0-2 in conference.
"Overall I loved how the team bounced back from our match on Thursday night, "said WT head coach Butch Lauffer. "Oklahoma Christian played the type of game that we were expected but our back four was ver y good in the air. Michael Garcia played well in central midfield and it was nice to see Mirza get on the scoresheet."
The Buffs started the match on strong note with three shots in the first five minutes including a header from Ryan Kennedy that just went wide. WT went ahead at 20:59 on a shot from Mirza Dizdarevic. The junior from Malmo, Sweden beat the keeper from 12 yards out after collecting the ball from Tom Colwing's blocked shot.
WT continued to pressure the Eagles as Jake Wiffen nearly added a brace in the 27th minute but was denied by OC's Evan Helker. The Eagles picked up their first two shots of the match on headers from Taylor Vanderford and Anthony Buchanan in the final five minutes of the first half.
The Buffs finished the first 45 minutes with a 11-3 advantage in shots including four shots on goal.
The Buffs came out firing on all cylinders as Ruben Nielsen had two clear chances at 54:16 and 55:09 but was denied both times by Helker. The Eagles almost equalized in the 72nd minute but Patrick Satorie denied OC's Cody Cook.
Wiffen finally got his brace in the 83rd minute on a volley from 10 yards out to extend WT's lead to 2-0. WT didn't have to wait long for a third as Dizdareivic scored his second of the match 30 minutes later.
WT finished the match with a 22-10 advantage on shots putting 13 of those shots on goal.
Satrorie picked up his third shutout of the season after making two saves on 10 shots faced.
The Buffs will finish their four match road trip against next when they travel to Texas A&M-International and St. Mary's.
Notes:
· Before Dizdarevic's goal in the 21st minute, the Buffs had gone 291 minutes 8 second without a goal in away matches dating back to last season.
· Patrick Satorie now ranks third in career shutouts with 13.
· The Buffs now lead the all-time series against the Eagles 7-0-0.
· The Buffs used a different line up for the sixth straight match.
