'Roos Drop Home Opener to UTD

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College men's soccer team fell 3-1 to visiting UT-Dallas on Friday evening in the home opener for the 'Roos, as the Comets scored twice in the second half to pull away down the stretch. The 'Roos are now 1-3 overall on the year.

It was a fastpaced game from the start, as the teams went back and forth racing up and down the field looking to create scoring chances, with the Coments getting on the board first in the ninth minute on a tally by Cole Morgan as be punched in a saved header from Kaleem Shabout. That one-goal margin held up throughout the rest of the opening half, as the Comets attempted 13 shots while the 'Roos attempted six before halftime.

Austin College evened things up early in the second half as Matheus Braid ripped a shot from 20 yards out to make it 1-1, but less than a minute later, Benny Lube finished on a feed from Riley O'Donnell to put the Comets back on top 2-1. That remained the score for the next 30 minutes, when Jacob Culpepper added an insurance goal for UTD in the 82nd minute to make it 3-1, and Austin College was unable to counter despite multiple strong scoring chances in the closing minutes of the game. The Comets finished the match with a 25-to-17 shot advantage, and Jayson Baldwin made four saves for the 'Roos while Anthony Alston had three stops for UTD.

Austin College is back home on Monday, when they play host to Nelson University, which until recently was known as Southwestern Assemblies of God University. That match is set to be played at 7:00 p.m.