Laredo, Texas – After a slow start in the first half, the Texas A&M International University Men’s Soccer Team erupted scoring three goals in the second, routing U.T. Permian Basin 5-1. TAMIU outshot the Falcons 19-3 including a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Five Dustdevils recorded two shots or more for TAMIU – junior forward Diego Manzano-Cano (Madrid Spain), senior forward Luis Salas (Dallas, TX), senior mid-fielder Joao Bacchi (Londrina, Brazil), senior mid-fielder Kristian Quintana (Dallas, TX) and freshman mid-fielder Daniel Garza (Laredo, TX).
TAMIU keeper Emmanuel Frias (Senior, Houston, TX) recorded his eighth win of the season, giving up one goal and turning one shot away.
Freshman Jovany Macias (Laredo, TX) gave the Dustdevils the early lead scoring in the 7th minute off an assist from Luis Salas. The Falcons answered less than a minute later as Tyler Gibson equalized off an assist from Tyler Pate.
Cano scored TAMIU’s second goal of the match in the 37th minute, taking a beautiful pass from Daniel Garza. Garza broke into the box drawing out the Falcons keeper – then dropped the ball back to Cano who fired home his team leading eight goal of the season
Cano returned the favor early in the second half, setting up Garza for the Dustdevils third goal of the night, giving TAMIU a 3-1 lead. A pair of seniors tallied the Dustdevils final two goals of the match as Kristian Quintana and Joao Bacchi each recorded their first goals of the season.
TAMIU improves to 11-3-2 on the season, 7-0 in Heartland Conference Play. One game remains in the regular season, as the Dustdevils get set to host Newman University on senior night Friday, November 4th.
The Dustdevils will now play the waiting game, hoping they won’t be denied a berth in the NCAA national tournament for their second consecutive year. The back -to-back Heartland Conference Champions are ranked third in the South Central Region by the NCAA, behind Midwestern State and Incarnate Word, with only the top two teams advancing. Midwestern State has two home games remaining -versus Lone Star Conference Champion Eastern New Mexico November 4th and versus West Texas A&M November 6th. Incarnate Word also has two home games remaining – versus St. Mary’s University November 2nd and versus Northeastern State November 4th.
(TAMIU Sports Information Director, Michael Blake may be contacted at michael.blake@tamiu.edu)