Saturday afternoon the Louisiana College Wildcats hosted the Yellow Jackets of Howard Payne Univ. in an American Southwest Conference showdown. 

An early overtime penalty decision proved to be the difference giving HPU a 1-0 victory. 

Starting a little later than planned, the two sides took the field to try and earn their second conference win of the season. 

The recent rain helped the game more than it hurt it, both sides used the slick surface to sling the ball around the field. The speed of the game was quick; one-two passes moved the Cats closer to the goal while longer, direct passes worked for HPU. 

At any given point, five to six Wildcats touched the ball before it entered the opposite half. The mid-field and Leo Osawa controlled the flow of the game with quick touches and clever body movements. The only difference was the lack of an offensive threat.

The Cats had eight shots, (1 sog) while HPU had 23 shots, ( 9 sog). 

The lone shot on goal came early into the second half with a right-footed strike by Gabriel G. Lopes but a quick dive to his left, Andrew Hackney, was able to push the shot wide for the save. 

On the other side, Cat Keeper, Evan Barker, kept the game scoreless with eight crucial saves but miscues by HPU forwards kept them in the game. 

More than five missed HPU shots came inside or close to the six-yard box, many others came from their nine corners.

The game finished scoreless in the full 90 minutes, so two ten minute overtime periods were added with the next goal winning. 

Less than a minute into the first overtime, Barker and an HPU forward collided inside the 18-yard box, and the center referee pointed the spot. 

Michael Westerman collected the ball and stepped to the pk mark, walked back to his left, he took three steps forward and placed his shot to Barker's right for the game-winning goal.

The Cats fall to 1-2 in the conference but travel to Round Rock, TX Thursday, the 27th, to play ASC foe Concordia Univ, and then to Belton, TX for a fight with Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday, games start at 7:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

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