CANYON, Texas – Sophomore Troy Reeves headed home the game-winner in the 63rd minute as the Buffs stormed back to defeat Lubbock Christian 2-1 on Thursday night at The Pitch. After falling behind in the first 15 minutes, WT tied it up right before half before Reeves scored the winner in the 63rd. With the win, the Buffs improved their record to 7-2, 4-1 in conference play. The loss drop LCU to 2-6-1 and 1-3-1 in conference play.
"I don't think we played that well and you have to give Lubbock Christian credit for that," said WT head coach Butch Lauffer. "They are not a 2-6 team, as they played well tonight and outplayed us in some facets of the match. Pat had some huge saves in the second half and we were able to get that crucial goal."
Both defenses were on full display in the first 10 minutes as neither team was able to find any rhythm. WT's Ivan Ulloa recorded the first shot of the match at 13:10 shortly before LCU went ahead. Erwin Rogules took full advantage of the space he found in the middle of the field as he rocketed in his first goal of the season at 14:18 to give the Chaps the lead.
Sophomore Filip Janjic made an instant impact as he tied the match at 1-1 at 41:23 just a minute after being brought into the match. The Wylie, Texas native got on the end of loose ball caused from a cross from the left corner by Reece Schattle. Janjic muscled his way in front of two LCU defenders to tap the ball into the net picking up his second of the season.
"Filip is a good player and has made a lot of progress," Lauffer said when asked about Janjic's performance after the match. "The one thing we know that he is going to do is score goals. For being a little guy, his timing in the air is very good. He played really well in the second half winning the ball and time wasting at the end of the match."
The two teams finished the first half with three shots a piece as LCU was forced to make two saves.
LCU nearly took the lead on two different occasions in the first 20 minutes of the second half but junior goalkeeper Patrick Satorie was up for the task. The Victoria, Australia native made an acrobatic move to deny LCU's Mickey Brunton at 59:11 before working his magic again on Kennedy Ikechukwu's shot from short range from at 61:36.
"Pat has been playing fantastic this season," Lauffer added about Satorie's performance tonight. "We have to give praise to coach (James) Crowder for his training. I was impressed by how he handled all of their long throws and those two big saves in the second half."
WT went ahead on a beautiful header from sophomore Troy Reeves at 62:58. The sophomore right-back outjumped his defender and got on the end of Janjic's long throw in from the right side to put the home team ahead.
Mirza Dizdarevic came within inches of adding a brace at 71:07 after nice build up play from the midfield. The Malmo, Sweden native received the ball just outside of the box before losing his defender but his point blank shot was turned away by LCU's Fernando Rios.
The Buffs were outshot for only the fourth time this season, 8-9, but held a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Satorie picked up his seventh win of the season after making two saves while facing nine shots.
The Buffs will return to The Pitch on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a match up against UT Permian Basin. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Notes:
· With the win, the Buffs evened the all-time series at 2-2-0.
· The Buffs are now 1-2-0 when they allow the first goal.
· Reece Schattle picked up his team-leading third assist on Janjic's goal.
· Ryan Kennedy and Christian Suthers both made their 50th appearance in a WT uniform.
· Six Buffs have recorded game-winning goals this season.
· The Buffs trailed at home for the first time all season.
· Butch Lauffer is now three wins short of 300 for his men's coaching career.
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