Tim Castaneda, Sports Writer, @xTIMBOxSLICEx
UVU men’s soccer concluded its first regular season of home matches for the program in big fashion as it defeated Houston Baptist University by a score of 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Clyde Field.
UVU’s captain Karson Payton proved to be a huge factor in the match as he lead his team to a three-goal victory as he finished the game with a goal and an assist. In the 31st minute, after receiving the long pass from Joe Barakat, Payton made a nice touch off his chest near the top of the box, then found Chandler Boyd from the 18 feet mark for UVU’s first goal of the game.
Payton also added UVU’s final goal of the day putting his team up 3-0 to cut off any possibility of a comeback from Houston Baptist. In the 59th minute, Payton took a free kick near the sideline from 35 yards out and blasted the ball past Houston Baptist keeper Philip Poser for his fourth goal of the season.
“Today was good, the result was fantastic,” said UVU head coach Greg Maas. “To finish in front of our home crowd this way was tremendous.”
In the second half the Wolverines continued to show their offensive aggression as they stretched their lead to three goals. UVU turned in eight shots on goal to end the game with a total of 13.
UVU mid-fielder Lucas Cawley joined in on the goal-scoring action for the Wolverines in the opening minutes of the second half. Cawley’s goal came in the 48th minute when he stole the ball from a Houston Baptist defender, then dribbled the ball into the box and put it into the back of the net from 19 feet.
In spite of having to get six staples in his head to close up a gash from a collision inside the goal, UVU keeper Collin Partee played a phenomenal game leading his team to a clean sheet for his fourth shutout of the season.
“He’s a warrior, he battled through and that’s what we expect from our goalkeepers,” said Maas of his team’s starting keeper. “He did a good job to keep it clean and the shutout was important to this team today.”
Chandler Boyd’s goal scored in the 31st minute was UVU’s first goal in a first half for UVU in 14 games.
UVU men’s soccer improves its overall regular season record to 7-6-2. The Wolverines hold a 3-3-2 record in WAC play and finish with a 5-1-2 home record for the season.
The Wolverines start their final road-trip of the season with a match at WAC opponent Bakersfield Friday, November 7 at 8 p.m. MT.
