SAN ANTONIO – The Tiger men's soccer team opened up its 2023 season with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Elmhurst University (IL) on Friday night at McGinlay Field.
Trinity (1-0-0) has now won 10 consecutive season-opening games, dating back to the 2013 season. Elmhurst (0-1-0) faced off against the Tiger men's soccer program for the first time during the Paul McGinlay era (since 1991).
The first goal of the season came from first-year defender
Luke Mayfield (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce), who cleaned up a loose ball in the box to put Trinity up 1-0. The Tigers had the only three on-target shots of the first half, though all of them came in a span of 12 minutes.
The second half saw Trinity start with a flurry of shots, though a header shot from
Michael Meese (Williamsburg, Va. / Jamestown) was the only one on goal during the early stretch. Meese picked a corner kick out of the air and redirected it on frame, but the Elmhurst defense was able to clear the ball off the line.
Just minutes after Meese was denied, Elmhurst broke through the Tiger defense for an equalizing goal in the 61st minute. Trinity had the majority of the shots after that, but the game appeared to be headed for a draw as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to play.
In the 83rd minute, though,
Hunter Cain (Katy, Texas / Cinco Ranch) found an opening from about 10 yards out and scored the eventual game-winner. Elmhurst stepped in front of a Trinity pass back in front of the goal, but the clearance attempt was snagged by Cain and he drilled it into the net.
Despite Elmhurst scrambling to try and salvage a tie, Trinity maintained control of the game.
Louis Instrall (London, England / Hampton School) put the game out of reach for good with his 20-plus yard rocket with just 40 seconds remaining.
Joseph Kuri (San Antonio, Texas / TMI Episcopal) dribbled into the box and then passed it back to the top of the 18-yard box. Instrall stepped in and blasted the ball past the keeper to close the scoring.
Some members of the Trinity team will return to the field for an exhibition game against Elmhurst tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m., while the Tigers are back on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. to take on Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA) in a regular season matchup.
Today marked the first of seven home games to start off the year for Trinity, which continues to play in San Antonio until the final week of September.
