Men's Soccer: Racers Tackle Governors State 3-2

LIMA, OH - UNOH men's soccer (2-0-1) earned a 3-2 victory in their first ever meeting with Governors State (1-1-1) on Wednesday, August 31.

The Racers struck first for the third time in as many matches. It was Bjarne Renner (SO/Germany) finding the bottom corner off a skip pass from Tomas Echevarria (JR/Montevideo, Uruguay) that went under a diving keeper in the 11th minute. It only took a few minutes for the Jaguars to match on an opposite end. The two teams battled end to end, but neither could find the go ahead goal as the match went level into the break.

Just a few minutes out of halftime, UNOH broke the deadlock. It was a long pass from Lucas Vazquez (SR/Buenos Aires, Argentina) at midfield that created a one on one with the keeper for Tomas Echevarria. Echevarria took it straight on and finished near side for a 2-1 lead. The Racers continued to create opportunities and in the 59th minute, notched again. Simon Von Benzon (FR/Denmark) sent a perfect cross into the box from the right side. The pass found the head of a streaking Tomas Echevarria who gave the keeper no chance, earning his fifth goal of the season. UNOH continued to dominate the match, but let themselves vulnerable and the Jags took advantage to cut the lead to one in the 78th minute. It was the last shot for Governors State as the Racers' defense shut down the match for the 3-2 win.

"At the end of the day, we got the result we wanted," said Head Coach Tyler Brock. " They are a good side so that's going to be a good result for us this season. In the second half, we fixed a lot of things and were able to capitalize on some of their turnovers."

Tomas Echevarria, Bjarne Renner and Gonzalo La Chica (SO/Spain) each finished with five shots a piece. La Chica put all five shots on goal but couldn't get one past. Echevarria had three on goal and Renner had two.

Danilo Abayo (SO/Germany) started in front of goal and went 58 minutes with three saves and one goal scored. Simon Sanchez (FR/Spain) finished the last 32 minutes giving up one goal with one save.

As a team, UNOH outshot the Jaguars 26-12 with 15-6 on goal. The teams combined for 22 fouls and five yellow cards in the match.

"I think we've definitely started off on the right foot this season," said Brock. "You could see it continue through today and hopefully we can keep it going into the next week. Games aren't getting any easier for us and we have a lot of quality competition to prepare for. We just need to stay hungry and humble and keep trying to be better than we were the day before."

Next up for the Racers will be their fourth of four home matches to open the campaign. Friendly rival Union comes to Racer Stadium on Sunday, September 4, for the Thomas Trammell Memorial Match at 12:00 PM.