LAREDO, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Men's Soccer (2-5-1, 0-0-1 LSC) opened up Lone Star Conference (LSC) play Wednesday afternoon as they tied against Texas A&M International 0-0.
Zach Kos came away with the shutout for WT after saving three shots.
The Buffaloes set the tone early as they put sustained offensive pressure on TAMIU in the first 10 minutes. WT produced three shots (one on goal) with three corner kicks to open the game but could not find an early goal. Defensively, the Buffs stood tall against seven-minute wave by the Dustdevils where they came away with one shot and two corners. West Texas A&M continuously was able to push back TAMIU with their offense to generate scoring opportunities. Their best chance would come in the 36th minute on a counterattack where
Desire Essis had a breakaway shot saved. WT produced eight shots and seven corner kicks in the first half as they controlled possession but ultimately went into halftime tied 0-0.
Out of the break, the Dustdevils would look to strike first with two corners and a shot in the first two minutes, but again WT's defense kept them off the board. Following the early surge by TAMIU, a physical defensive battle would take place with 13 combined fouls (26 overall) and three yellow cards in the second half. The Buffs were still able to control possession but could not create the shots that they did in the first half. Late in the 82nd minute,
Myles Taylor nearly found the go-ahead goal with a header, but his shot fell left. The score would finalize at 0-0 as WT added one point in the standings to open LSC play.
Top Buffs
- Zach Kos made his first start of the season and came away with a three-save shutout in all 90 minutes.
- Joe Ballenger logged 90 minutes on defense and recorded one shot which landed on goal. This was Ballenger's fourth straight and fourth overall game playing all 90 minutes.
- Delahmu Reeves landed one shot on goal in his 49 minutes of action.
Buffalo Bits
- West Texas A&M is now 10-7-6 all-time against Texas A&M International.
- WT led the game in shots (11-9), and corner kicks (8-6).
- This was the Buffs third shutout this season.
- Damron Atkins extended his streak of consecutive games playing 90 minutes to six. He also recorded one shot.
- Desire Essis landed one shot on goal in his 11 minutes.
- Ben Scotford and Myles Taylor each registered two shots. This was Scotford's fourth game with 2+ shots and Taylor's second. Scotford played 73 minutes while Taylor had 26.
- Octavio Estrada-Vazquez logged 85 minutes and fired one shot.
- Felix Casas and Joseluis Diaz both contributed one shot. Casas played 71 minutes while Diaz logged 33 minutes.
- Bobby Murphy played 86 minutes on defense.
Up Next
The Buffs will be back in action on Saturday, September 26 as they host UT Tyler at The Pitch. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
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