FORT WORTH — Texas Wesleyan University (8-6-5) defeated Oklahoma City University (6-9-3) 3-1 in the opening round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday, highlighted by a first-half stretch in which it generated five shots and three corner kicks while moving from a 1-0 lead to 2-0. Texas Wesleyan finished with an 18-6 shot advantage, including an 11-2 edge in shots on goal.
Texas Wesleyan built a 2-0 halftime lead behind goals from
Rudy Gonzalez and
Chandler Brookins, then kept generating chances through the middle of the first half. Gonzalez opened the scoring at 9:33 off an assist from
Mehdi Dif, and
Noah Epler-McDonnell answered Oklahoma City's best immediate response with a save on Noah Ragozzino in the 12th minute. Texas Wesleyan added to the lead at 17:26 when Brookins scored from
Peter Tenorio's assist, following a Tenorio shot and corner kick moments earlier. From 16:51 to 25:58, Texas Wesleyan recorded five shots and three corners, including three saved attempts by
Henrique Soares and another by Gonzalez, before carrying the 2-0 advantage into halftime.
Texas Wesleyan pushed its lead to 3-1 at 66:12, when
Diogo Stefane converted a penalty kick after Oklahoma City had cut the margin to 2-1 on Francisco Miquel's penalty at 60:29. Earlier in the second half, Texas Wesleyan worked back into the attack with
Peter Tenorio's corner in the 52nd minute, a blocked shot from
Marco Arduino and
Rudy Gonzalez's attempt wide right before the teams traded penalty goals. After Stefane's goal, Texas Wesleyan kept pressure on Oklahoma City with three shots and a corner from 72:30 to 78:14, including saves by Vittorio Di Carlo on attempts from
Walter Palacios and Tenorio.
Nicholas Duderstadt added another saved shot in the final minute, and Texas Wesleyan finished off the 3-1 result.
Brookins recorded the game-winning goal on his only shot.
Rudy Gonzalez scored the first goal and finished with three shots, including two on goal. Stefane converted a penalty kick and put one of his two shots on frame.
Peter Tenorio added an assist and placed both of his shots on goal.
Francisco Miquel scored a goal, converting his lone shot and his only penalty attempt. Vittorio Di Carlo finished with eight saves in 90 minutes in goal. Noah Ragozzino recorded a team-high two shots, putting one on frame.
The Rams advance to play the second-seeded John Brown University on Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark.
