Clarksville, Ark.-The U of O men's soccer team won their fourth straight American Southwest Conference match over the weekend in Texas.
The Eagles (6-4-1), (4-2-1) defeated East Texas Baptist 2-0 on Friday and LeTourneau University 3-1 on Saturday. Sophomore forward Ron Hogsett recorded a hat trick in the Eagles 3-1 win over East Texas Baptist (5-4-0), (4-2-0). Hogsett got things going early in the match scoring at the 1:36 mark. Hogsett would score in the 83rd minute and on a goal as the match ended to record the hat trick. Hogsett’s three-goal performance marked the third time in his career that he has recorded at least three goals in a match. He now leads the team in goals (6) and points (14). The Eagles out shot the Tigers 17-9 in the match. Junior goalkeeper Chris Schultz had four saves in the win. Ozarks would pick up a 2-0 win over LeTourneau (4-7-1), (2-5-0) the following day. Hogsett would score in the 26th minute to give Ozarks a 1-0 lead at halftime. Freshman forward Jared Gordon added a goal in the 52nd minute to give the Eagles their fourth consecutive win. The Eagles had 13 shots, with Hogsett and Gordon each recording three shots apiece. Schultz recorded his 19th career shut out in the victory. In their last four matches, the Eagles are averaging 4.25 goals per game and allowing only .5 goals per game. "I think we are starting to come together as a team," said head coach Dave De Hart. "We started with a very difficult schedule early on and I knew if we could be patient we would gel and we have done that. I think we are a good team and we are playing much better. We seem to be getting better both offensively and defensively. But I still think we can do more offensively." The Eagles will play four of their next six matches at home. "Our remaining schedule appears to be in our favor in regards to being at home, but the level of competition will be as difficult as our road matches early in the season," said De Hart. "Because of our youthfulness, we don’t know how to react quite yet to a strong opponent, but I’m also worried we won’t know how to react to a Louisiana College team that we have already beaten 10-0. But we will talk to our guys and tell them how detrimental a loss could be to our goal of playing in the conference tournament." Ozarks will travel to Pineville, Louisiana, to face Louisiana College October 9 and then take on Mississippi College October 11 in Clinton, Mississippi.
Topics: Athletics