PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University men's soccer program trailed less than five minutes into the regular season, but came charging back for its first comeback victory of 2024, scoring the final three goals from three different sources as the Wildcats fend off Texas Wesleyan by a final of 3-1 in the opener.
 
The Basics: 
 

• Score
  • (RV) Louisiana Christian – 3
  • Texas Wesleyan – 1

 

• Records
  • (RV) Louisiana Christian (1-0, 0-0 Red River)
  • Texas Wesleyan (0-0, 0-0 Sooner)

 

• Location
  • Pineville, Louisiana – Wildcat Field

  

• Series History
  • Series Tied 1-1

 

• Winning Streak
  • Louisiana Christian (W1) | Texas Wesleyan's Last Win: October 12, 2002 (7-1)

 
Wildcats Top Performers: 
 

• What a collegiate debut it was for Brazilian freshman Pedro Sao Tiago, dishing out not one, but two assists in his first match donning the Orange and Blue, launching three shots as well as one shot-on-goal for an all-around dazzling performance.

 

• Adrian Amoros Navarro was on the attack all night long, tying a career-high with six shots including five on-target, notching the first goal of the campaign via a penalty kick and nearly becoming the first player in school history to cash in two PKs in the same contest.

 

• The game-winner was rocketed off the foot of Joao Pedro Giraldez Franco in the 67th minute, taking the one touch from Tiago and burying it into the back of the net as part of his three-shot evening.

 

• TXWES hung around on the peripherals of striking distance for the majority of the match before Guilherme Mendes plunged the final dagger into the hearts of the visitors from Fort Worth, collecting his second career goal down the home stretch, putting the game out of reach in the 86th minute.

 

• Thiago Lopes doubled his previous record for shots by getting off a half-dozen during the sweltering CENLA night, placing one-third of those on-goal.

 

• Veterans Shakeem Walters (4) and Lucas Lima (1) combined to tally five shots with one of Walters' aimed between the pipes while newcomers Matej Motyczka along with Gabriel Zuniga each put one shot into their official stat line.

 

• Rodrigo Silva did not see much action, however, he did log win number 15 of his Wildcats tenure, saving one ball.

 
Record Book Watch:
 
Career 
 

• With this contest, Head Coach David Castillo has officially garnered at least a share of the top spot in all of the program's career coaching records, tying with Claudy St. Louis (2015-19) for most seasons coached (5) on top of building upon his sizable leads in the win percentage (62.7%) and win (42) columns.

 

• A trio of active student-athletes, Franco, Navarro, and Walters all took one step towards the top of the matches played leaderboard, currently sitting in fifth (62), sixth (61), and seventh (60), respectively.

 

• Navarro, the all-time points leader widened the gap to 12 after picking up a pair with his PK score and he became the team's all-time shots leader Sunday night, surpassing Fellipe Escobedo (2006-09) for the number one ranking. He now is the top dog in points (76), shots (127), and shots-on-goal (71).

 

• The Spaniard is also second on the goals list behind teammate Sergio Pita Martin, inching closer with his 22nd net finder.

 

• Walters moved into a fourth place tie for shots (82), tying Martin while leapfrogging Alvaro Tudanca (2021-22) and Fellipe Albuquerque (2012-13) along the way.

 

• The striker also tied Tudanca for third in shots on-target at 43.

 
Game 
 

• Louisiana Christian's 26 shots taken was the seventh-most since they became a varsity sport in 1998.

 

• Navarro joined a lengthy nine-person tie for the third-highest SOG total for a single match with five.

 

• Tiago is already in the history books after just 90 minutes on the pitch, recording the 20th multi-assist outing by a Cat.

 
Next:
  

• LCU will double-dip into the Sooner Athletic Conference for its second straight home bout, welcoming the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) Drovers to "The Hill" for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Thursday.

 

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