PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University men's soccer team found its offensive rhythm with
Aran Hernández Vivar scoring a brace in a 4-1 win over the Huston-Tillotson Rams in LCU's home opener Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Field.
Louisiana Christian (1-3) was quick to get on the scoreboard with Hernández Vivar getting his first of the season as
Juan Sierra pressed a Huston-Tillotson (0-3-3) defender who was handling the ball, forcing a turnover which Sierra was able to get to Hernández Vivar who tapped it past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead in just the fifth minute.
Sierra then got a goal of his own in the 26
th minute as his press once again forced a miscue by the Ram back line. This time it resulted in him getting the ball one-on-one with the HTU keeper, who he danced around and tapped the ball into an empty net for a 2-0 lead.
In the 36
th minute,
Juan Tavera sent a through ball which found the foot of
Ezra Williams in space. Williams worked his way towards goal, got around the last defender and beat the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 Wildcats as the two teams went to the break.
Huston-Tillotson found its only goal of the match less than a minute after halftime ended, cutting the LCU lead down to 3-1.
But there would be no comeback by the Rams as Williams sent the ball into the box where Hernández Vivar was waiting to beat the HTU goalkeeper for his second goal of the match and a 4-1 LCU lead.
LCU's lead was further protected in the 63
rd minute as a Wildcat was yanked down just before entering the box with the ball while behind the Ram defense. The Ram defender who committed the foul was shown a red card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity and HTU went down to 10 men for the remainder of the contest which kept the Rams from mounting another threat for the rest of the 90 minutes.
Hernández Vivar took six shots in the match, putting four of them on target on his way to scoring his first two goals of the season.
Sierra took five shots and put three on frame. His goal was his second of the season while his assist on the match's first goal was his first helper of the season.
Williams took two shots, put one on target, scored his first goal of the season, and was credited with his first assist as well.
The Wildcats took 22 shots in the match, putting 12 on frame.
Ricardo Gross (1-3) played the match's first 72 minutes in net for the Wildcats and was credited with three saves and conceded a goal.
Tyson Cole played the final 18-plus minutes in goal and did not face any shots during his time in the match. The LCU defense held Huston-Tillotson to five total shots in the match, four on target.
The Wildcats continue the home stand on Tuesday as Paul Quinn comes to Pineville. Kickoff of Tuesday's match against the Tigers (0-4) is set for 6 p.m. at Wildcat Field.
