FORT WORTH – A goal with 14 seconds left for the Texas College Steers (1-1) may have ruined a shutout but a complete performance by Texas Wesleyan Men's Soccer (1-2) helped show the new team's potential especially inside the box Tuesday night at Handley Field.
The last two goals for TXWES were moments of beauty. In the 57th minute, Hector Perez put in a pretty ball to Claudio Barraza off his head to separate the two sides. 17 minutes later, Max Perez helped Hector Perez feel the thrill of scoring to help cement the Rams' victory.
Despite getting out-shot 19-10, the Rams took advantage of many more of their opportunities.
The Steers only had two really good looks of the night. The latter was a complete whiff from Eddie Molina in the 61st minute three feet off the right post, which is exactly where the ball ended up out of play. Molina got off to a quick start using his speed to create opportunities, but was quickly bottled up by the TXWES backline, with frustration culminating in a yellow card in the 79th minute, one of three yellow cards picked up by the Steers in the contest.
The former was a rocket into the box in the 4th minute that sent Rams' goalkeeper Bastian Blumenberg flying out of his shoes – full extension – to knock a ball out of the box and away from impending trouble. Blumenberg had five total nabs.
Barraza scored the first goal on a penalty kick after getting chopped down just inside the 18-yard box in the 25th minute. It was his third multi-goal game in his first 14 battles since transferring to TXWES last season.
The midfield showed promise disrupting Texas College attacks with the shifty Juan Rivas and strong play from Carlos Mendez, Carlos Rodriguez and Alex Medina.
The 3-1 victory was the Rams' second consecutive win over the Steers and was the most lopsided victory over Texas College since September 22, 2012.
McPherson comes to town Saturday August 31 at 3:30 p.m. The Rams, now 1-0 at home, has finished seven of the last eight seasons with a home record above .500. Texas Wesleyan hopes this time the team will actually get to play on its true home field – Martin Field – after rains sent both the men's and women's soccer teams packing to highway 820 and Handley Field to start the home slate.
