Friends and family of the men’s soccer team gathered at Strassweg Field Sunday in honor of the Senior Day matchup against the University of the Incarnate Word, a private university in San Antonio, Texas. The six seniors honored at the game were Brock Martindale, defender; Wesley Rhodes, midfielder; Fabrice Remy, midfielder; Devin Reiminger, defender; Garland Hall, midfielder; and Elmer Garcia, midfielder.
Even though it was Senior Day, the Screaming Eagles were not given anything easy. UIW is a formidable opponent on the road, with a record of 2-3-1 away from home. It would be a hard-fought battle on both sides.
Within the game’s first minute, Jackson Mitchell, sophomore forward, had a chance to give the team an early lead. However, the USI offense had to adapt after Mitchell went down with less than 20 minutes to go in the first half and never returned to the game.
David Davilla, freshman forward, did not stay discouraged and stepped up to the challenge with a personal best of five shots, two of which were on goal.
Both teams found opportunities, but not the back of the net. Andrew Klott, sophomore goalkeeper, kept USI alive with five saves in the first half.
In the first half, the Screaming Eagles outshot the Cardinals 8-7 and had the advantage in corner kicks, 4-3.
The second half was similar, but UIW saw more shots this time. As the clock ticked, anticipation grew, and both teams were eager to score. The Cardinals found themselves with two ample scoring opportunities with 17 minutes remaining, but the USI defense protected their box well.
Things got interesting in the final minutes when Davilla had a shot with a little over a minute left, leading to a corner kick. Nothing came of this opportunity, but it led to an injured UIW goalie. He was substituted with UIW’s Benjamin Miller, freshman goalkeeper, with less than a minute to go.
UIW fouled with two seconds on the clock, but the score remained 0-0 in the end. This half, UIW out-shot USI, 9-7. Both teams earned three corner kicks this half.
Fouls also impacted the game, as six yellow cards were given to both sides in the second half. Throughout the match, UIW had six fouls compared to USI’s 13. The final score was a draw, 0-0, bringing their record to an overall level of 2-10-1.
USI looks to hit the road for its next game, facing off against Western Illinois University at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.