PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian men's soccer team got two second half goals from
Manuel Sosa-Villaseñor which helped the Wildcats pull away from the North American Stallions for a key 4-0 win Thursday night at Wildcat Field.
Louisiana Christian (5-7-2, 2-3-1 RRAC) got on the scoreboard first in a somewhat unusual way in the 35
th minute as
Juan Sierra sent a cross into the box from the left side and a North American (4-5-1, 2-3-1 RRAC) defender, trying to clear the danger, instead ended up sending the ball into his own net for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. That would be the match's only goal heading into halftime.
But the Wildcats were on the attack in a big way in the second 45 minutes. In the 56
th minute, Sierra was in the right spot to take in a bad touch by the NAU goalkeeper, juke around him, and roll the ball into the open net for a 2-0 LCU advantage.
Not even three minutes later, LCU added to its lead as
Aran Hernández Vivar got to the ball along the back line and cut it back to Sosa-Villaseñor, who beat the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 Wildcats.
Sosa-Villaseñor struck again in the 64
th minute as
Ezra Williams lifted a cross into the box which Sosa-Villaseñor was able to chest down and beat the goalkeeper with a shot for the match's final goal.
Sierra took seven shots in the match, with his lone attempt which was on target finding its way into the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Sosa-Villaseñor's two goals gave him four on the year and came on his only two shots in the match.
Hernández Vivar took four shots, put two on frame, and was credited with an assist.
Williams also took one shot, which was on target, and had an assist as well.
The Wildcats took 18 shots as a team with seven on target in the match.
Ricardo Gross (4-7-2) and
Tyson Cole combined for the key clean sheet for LCU. Gross played the first 77 minutes and saved all three of NAU's shots on target in the match. Gross finished out the final 13 minutes and did not see a shot come his way. The Stallions took seven total shots as a team in the match.
The Wildcats have three matches remaining in the regular season, all three of which against teams LCU is battling for a spot in the 2026 Red River Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. The first of the final stretch of matches is on Saturday as LCU welcomes in Texas A&M Victoria to Pineville. Kickoff of Saturday's match against the Jaguars (6-2-4, 2-2-2 RRAC) is set for 3:30 p.m. at Wildcat Field.
