TULSA – Juan
Chang opened the scoring in the seventh minute while Jon Gann
scored the game-winning goal as Oral Roberts University defeated
regional rival Missouri State, 2-1, at the ORU Soccer Complex on
Friday night.
The Golden Eagles won
their home opener to improve to 2-3-0 in front of a home crowd of
736 people. With the loss, Missouri State dropped to 2-2-1.
Although played on the ORU Soccer Complex, the game was part of the
Golden Hurricane Classic.
Chang netted his second
goal of the year after receiving a pass from Miguel
Peralta at the top of the box. The Guatemala City, Guatemala
native whipped around and planted the ball in the lower left hand
corner of the net, giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead at the 6:07
mark.
ORU controlled the
momentum in the first half as most of the action was played on the
Missouri State's side of the field. With an 11-4 ORU advantage in
shots in the first frame, freshman Gann
scored what proved to be the game-winner at the 24:34 minute
mark.
The Bears looked to
rebound in the second half as MSU cut into ORU's lead with a Nick
Dryden goal at the 51:46 mark. Dryden headed the ball past ORU's
Andrew Techanchuk off a free kick taken by Henry Lawrence
III.
MSU could not get any
closer as ORU again controlled most of the play in the second
frame, holding the advantage in shots by a 12-4 margin.
Chang had six shots, three
on-goal, while Carlos Pinto fired off three shots to lead the
Golden Eagle attack.
Techanchuk had five saves
to improve to 2-3-0 while MSU's Lance Parker stopped nine ORU shots
in a losing effort.
ORU will face
17th-ranked Virginia Tech in the second round of the
Golden Hurricane Classic on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at the Hurricane
Soccer and Track Stadium on the campus of TU.
--ORU--
