The Louisiana College Wildcats played their second to last home game of the season Thursday night against American Southwest Conference opponent Letourneau University. The Yellow Jackets held off the ten-man Wildcats 2-1 after a late comeback. The Cats face off against the Tigers of East Texas Baptist University Saturday afternoon for the final home game of the season.
The Cats went down to ten men after an unfortunate foul decision in the 20th minute. An LC player shot and the Jacket keeper saved it, but the ball was loose, then an LC player went for the ball, making contact with the keeper after he had made possession, the foul resulted in a red card and the player's dismissal.
Even though the Jackets had a man advantage, LC out-shot LETU and controlled the game in the first half.
The momentum changed after a mistake by LC's keeper, leading to the first goal of the game. Off a corner,
Evan Barker saved the shot, but the ball hit the post and came back into play where an LETU player headed the ball in for the goal, seven minutes after the restart.
The Cats again would face a tough decision in the 75th minute, LETU was awarded a penalty kick after a foul inside the 18-yard box. The Jackets converted the spot-kick and went up 2-0.
The Cats did not quit,
Gabriel G. Lopes gave LC life with a goal late in the 86th minute. A well-placed cross from
Victor Pimenta opened Lopes for a one time left-footed upper 90 finish to bring the Cats within one.
Leo Osawa nearly sent the game into overtime with a curled shot outside the box, but his effort hit off the crossbar in the 89th minute. The Cats did not have enough time left, and the Jackets held on to finish 2-1.
Saturday afternoon LC returns to play against ASC rival East Texas Baptist University for the final home game of the season at 2:30 p.m. Stay connected to Wildcats soccer by finding them on Facebook under Louisiana College Men's Soccer and Twitter at LC_MSOC. For general athletics news follow @LC_Wildcats on Twitter or like Louisiana College Wildcats on Facebook.
