FORT WORTH, TX - With 16 minutes left, Texas Wesleyan Men's Soccer (1-4) was staying aggressive looking for a tie or a comeback victory, down just one goal against LSU-Alexandria (4-1), who received votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll. But late breakdowns in the box defensively and a critical early mistake marred a tremendous effort from goalkeeper Bastian Blumenberg in a 3-0 loss for the Rams.
Blumenberg earned seven saves, including a penalty kick save in the 16th minute, just after the Generals got an early goal. He whacked a rocket-shot off his hand in the late stages helping keep things interesting down the stretch.
In a game full of attacks and counters - 30 shots total, 13 of which were Ram opportunities - and a number of players going down in the relentless heat that topped 100 degrees in the second half, TXWES stood tall against the athletic Generals, quite literally. The defensive back line that includes
James Kerr (6'1") and
Matheus Macedo (6'2") along with support of the 5'9"
Lazar Pavlovic contained LSU-Alexandria's offense for the majority of the day. Macedo's head will be sore later in the week after knock-away after knock-away went off his noggin. But one misstep in soccer can sometimes prove deadly.
In the midst of arguably his best performance of the season, Macedo's misjudgment on a pass-back to Blumenberg to reset the offense allowed the Generals' Andrez Joseph to score unassisted in a one-on-one nearly impossible task for Blumenberg in the open field.
The Rams' best opportunity at a goal - or two - came off the offensive work from
Hector Perez, who had back-to-back good looks in the 18-yard box in front of goal in the 66th and 67th minute. The two sides played a clean game - no cards - in their first-ever meeting.
Claudio Barraza led the Rams with five total shot attempts, but the Generals were keyed on his game all day long.
Paul Quinn next comes to Martin Field Friday September 13 at 7 p.m. as the eight-game homestand continues. Quinn edged Texas State in a wild shootout in 2018, 3-2, but before that the Rams had the Tigers' number, winning matches 2-1 in 2017 and 6-1 in 2016. TXWES hopes to take their frustrations out on the Tigers next week after a rare scoring slump. Texas Wesleyan hasn't scored in the last 197 minutes of action, the longest streak without a goal since the end of the 2016 campaign.
