The Buffs were on a mission this weekend for their pair of home games. The team improved their record to three wins, but was still missing a confidence-building weekend sweep.
On Friday, University of Texas Permian-Basin scored first at the 43:33 mark in the first half. But a little over 14 minutes into the second half, Daniel Angloher tied the game off of a free kick. Only four minutes later, Conrad Gouldbourne scored the game-winning goal, assisted by Abel Olivas’ corner kick. WT won 2-1 with the Buffs tallying up with 11 shots versus UTPB’s six.“It was a good game. We had some difficulties in the first half. We played good, but we were unlucky with the first goal. I think we can do better than we did the first part of the season and I hope we will show it,” Angloher said.
Sunday was a tension-filled day as the Buffs took on rival Midwestern State, a team ranked No.7 in the nation.
WT put a number on the board first as Colin Bjostad scored a runaway goal 18:33 into the game. Midwestern was denied a chance to answer back in the first half and 19 minutes into the second half, WT took a 2-0 lead off of Rodrigo Morin’s long goal.
Midwestern managed to tie the game late in the second half as they scored two goals in a little under four minutes. But instead of backing down, WT pushed on and Lukas Garcia scored off a spectacular cross by Colin Bjostad with less than 10 minutes remaining. The goal would be the final ball to find a net and ended the game with a score of 3-2.
“We finally had a weekend where we didn’t lay an egg in either one of the games and this is our biggest rivalry, so it was definitely good to have a good weekend and finish off with a victory against Midwestern,” Bjostad said. “I think we can get on a roll. Midwestern is probably one of the best teams in the region, so as long as we can play like we did today and the second half on Friday, we can beat anyone out there.”
The win not only got the team their first weekend sweep of the season, it improved their record to 4-6 and gave them their first Lone Star Conference win.
“I’m really proud of the team and the way we fought back on Friday night and then the way we went out in front [today],” Head Coach Butch Lauffer said. “We never gave up the lead. It was tied at one time, but we fought back and scored a goal. We are starting to show some resilience and some mental toughness, which is positive.”
With the recent string of wins, some players are optimistic about a possible playoff run.
“We’re back in the hunt. There’s people losing a lot of games and now we’re going to get some momentum going to the end of the season. I think we’ve got a good chance now,” Goalkeeper Sebastian Furness said.
WT will hit the road next weekend with a game against Saint Mary in San Antonio on Oct. 14 at 2 p.m., followed by a game on Oct. 16 against Texas A&M International University.
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