Tuesday, October 13, 2015
PORTALES, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico University men's soccer team snapped a five game skid Tuesday, shutting out University of Texas-Permian Basin 3-0 in yet another exciting match for the Greyhounds.
ENMU (4-5-2) dominated both ends of the field all day, recording 23 shots to the Falcon's (4-8) 12. James Gutierrez showed off his sure hands once again, recording five saves and anchoring a lately improved Greyhound defense.
Greyhound captain Ryan McManus said, "I think defense is the most pleasing thing today. We know we can score goals, but the best thing was getting the clean sheet today. The shutout was really nice for J-Mo [Gutierrez] and the back four."
The shutout was the Greyhound's second of the season. The first came against Adams State University Sept. 4, also by a score of 3-0.
While ENMU saw their fair share of chances in the first half (10 shots, four on goal), the second half saw them explode on offense. Totaling 13 shots in the period, Cesar Quintero, Ignacio Dicun and Roberto Zatarain all scored, giving the Greyhounds a 3-0 win.
Zatarain's score came off a free kick from the left corner that amounted to a corner kick from McManus. Zatarain headed the ball into the right corner of the goal past the Falcon keeper's outstretched hands.
The second goal followed 18 minutes after the first, when UTPB was called for a foul in the box. Quintero readied for the penalty kick, and after a slight delay put the Hounds on top 2-0 on a well placed ball that the keeper never had a chance to save.
The final score came from a beautiful cross by Ryan Sinclair from the left side of the field to Dicun in the 84th minute of play . Dicun was left all alone with nothing between him and his second goal of the season. Zatarain still leads the hounds with six goals scored, while Quintero got his first goal of the season off the PK.
"Overall, pretty pleased with how it went," said Sinclair. "Recently we've been much better organized with the defense and midfielders."
The Greyhounds have been focusing on defense recently and it has shown in their last two matches. ENMU held No. 1 Midwestern State University to only one goal in their loss to the Mustangs on Sunday and followed that performance up with the 3-0 shutout today.
Head coach Paul Tate said, "We were due for a win and we feel like we've been working really hard lately. He [Gutierrez] is really playing well, coming off the line better and being more aggressive, winning the ball when he needs too. The last two games we've been working on defense, having our defensive shape better so we do get the opportunity to attack."
The Hounds look to defend their home field from Lubbock Christian University Monday, Oct. 19, at 3:00 p.m. ENMU is looking for a win after tying the Chaps 2-2 in early Sept.
