The Murray State men's soccer team utilized a first half offensive surge to build the lead and then a second half defensive stifling to preserve a pivotal 4-2 win over NOC-Tonkawa in the NJCAA Region 2 opener Sunday afternoon at home.
Coach John Connor's club built a 3-2 halftime lead and limited the Mavs to one scoring chance in the second half while throwing a defensive blanket on the visitors to improve their overall record to 2-1 on the young season.
It was the Aggies first win over NOC-Tonkawa since September 2019 as two of their three non-victories a year ago came to the Mavs.
"We've never beaten NOC since any of us with the program have been here so it's a big win for us," Connor said. "They are a very tough team every year with a great coach. We were the better team today though."
NOC-Tonkawa took the early lead in the game on a goal with less than four minutes gone but the Aggies answered nine minutes later when Frank Perez punched a shot into the left side of the net to tie things at 1-1.
Murray State took its first lead at the 20:50 mark when veteran Cesar Solis fed Carl Murch, who blasted one past the Mav goalkeeper.
After NOC-Tonkawa knotted things again on a shot into the low left corner at the seven minute mark, the Aggies immediately countered when Solis laced a left-footed shot into the goal following a nifty center pass.
The hosts carried that 3-2 lead into the halftime break and dodged the one big bullet of the second half nearly 10 minutes in on a penalty kick attempt in which sophomore keeper Everado Garza made a diving stop and cover to thwart the Mavs.
"That was a great save by our keeper," Connor stated. "He really needed that. Our back line did better communicating today and our entire team did better positioning. We knew in the second half that they (NOC) weren't going to give up. We had the lead and could have had more but it was enough."
Solis picked up a second assist soon after when Daika Montague connected for his first collegiate goal at the 27:22 mark.
Another insurance goal by Gabriel Da Cunha with 12:26 remaining was waved off due to an offsides penalty but the two-goal advantage was plenty safe as the Aggies played ball control the rest of the way to finish the victory.
"I'm happy for some of our guys that got their first goals," Connor added. "They needed that. They are young and away from home and a lot of them are still just 17 years old. We're getting there though.
"It is always good to start strong but it really matters how you finish. We've got to get back to the drawing board tomorrow for the next challenge."
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