SAN ANTONIO – The 15th-ranked Trinity men's soccer team started off the week with a 1-1 draw against NCAA I University of the Incarnate Word on Monday night.
The Tigers tied for the second straight game and are now 4-0-2 on the season, while Incarnate Word is 1-4-2 and snapped its four-game losing streak with the tie.
Chen Adjei (Euless, Texas / Trinity) put the Tigers in front 1-0 in 31st minute on a beautiful header from a cross by
Will Powell (Bexley, England / Beth Grammar School). UIW tied things up after earning a penalty kick in the 78th minute. Despite giving up the PK goal, Trinity keeper
Austin Wilman (Esher, England / Charterhouse School) had a solid game with five saves.
UIW had a 19-7 advantage in total shots and was able to carry much of the possession. The Cardinals had the first dangerous attempt of the night as the first shot by either team bounced off the crossbar in the ninth minute.
Luke Mayfield (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) had Trinity's first on-target chance on a corner taken by
Hunter Cain (Katy, Texas / Cinco Ranch) just over 10 minutes later. Cain went to the far post, where Mayfield was able to redirect his header into the bottom corner of the net, but the UIW keeper made a diving save to keep the game scoreless at the time.
Trinity continued to run its offense through Adjei and it finally paid off in the 31st minute. After the Tiger defense stopped another UIW run towards the box,
Louie Instrall (London, England / Hampton School) brought the ball back to the midway line and swung it wide for Powell. After slowing up initially, Powell saw an opening and pressed forward to sail his pass in across the face of the goal and Adjei knocked it home.
Neither team had another on-target shot over the final 14-plus minutes and Trinity took a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Cardinals came out in the second half desperate to score a goal, keeping most of the possession. Trinity's defense did well under the pressure, though Wilman did make all five of his saves in the second period.
After the game-tying penalty, Wilman had two saves in a span of less than 30 seconds around the 85-minute mark to keep the game level.
Trinity will be back in action at home again on Friday, September 22, hosting the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 7:00 p.m. That will be the final game of a seven-game home stand to start the year, then the Tigers will play on the road for the first time this season at Concordia University (TX) on Sunday, September 24, at 7:00 p.m.
