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Hounds squander 2-0 lead, settle for tie

By: Mickey Winfield

The Embry-Riddle Eagle soccer team rallied for two second-half goals to earn a tie against the Eastern New Mexico men at the ENMU soccer field Saturday afternoon.

It didn’t take long for the Hounds to take the lead, just over two minutes to be exact.

Sophomore forward Jared Morris took a through pass from midfielder Ryan Atkinson, and Morris finished for the first score of the game.

Morris followed that up with another goal in the 41st minute to put the Hounds up 2-0 at the half.

“We were moving the ball really well in that first half, and playing strong. My job is to finish, and I was able to do that twice,” Morris said.

Despite going ahead 2-0 in the first half, ENMU head coach Carlos Elizondo saw missed opportunities.

“We missed several chances in the first half, we could have gone into the half in a better situation,” Elizondo said.

The second half was a much different story.

Down by two goals, Embry-Riddle turned on the attack early, and it paid off. Jason Aspelund took a pass from Andrew Perez, and put it in the back of the net to put the Eagles on the board.

Embry-Riddle got the equalizer late in the second half as Rodrigo Chaves took a free kick off his head, and into the top left corner of the goal.

Tied at 2-2 as regulation ended, the two squads played two 10-minute overtime periods before finishing with a tie.

Morris tried to explain letting a two-goal half-time advantage slip away, “We changed the lineup a bit for the second half, with a two goal lead, but they just out played us.”

“I think a little fatigue hurt us in that second half, we didn’t finish opportunities that were given to us,” Elizondo said.

The tie leaves the Hounds record this season at 1-0-1. ENMU hosts UT-Permian Basin at Greyhound soccer field at 2 p.m. Tuesday.