Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
SPORTS EDITOR
PORTALES — Tensions were high and tempers flared on the pitch, as the Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team held No. 6 St. Edward’s to a shutout draw Saturday.
Despite the Hilltoppers (12-1-1, 8-1-1 HC) out shooting the Greyhounds 18-4, keepers James Gutierrez and Ryan Flores held their own, recording five saves apiece.
Gutierrez was sidelined late in the match when he incurred a redcard and Flores was called off the bench. Not only did the Greyhounds (5-5-4, 3-4-3 HC) have to rely on a freshman keeper, but were now playing a man down against one of the nation’s top teams.
Head coach Paul Tate said, “The back up keeper came up big for us on the PK to keep us in it then we played down a man for what, close to 40 plus minutes. I think coming out with at least a point from this game is huge for us.”
This was the Flores’ first game back after recovering from a serious leg injury several weeks ago. The keeper made the play of the game, saving a penalty kick in the 80th minute to keep the game tied at 0-0.
Jose Jaramillo, one of four ENMU players to play all 110 minutes of the match, said, “It wasn’t easy, they are the No. 6 team in the nation and they are a great squad. We managed to get a point out of them — we worked hard, the whole team. I caused a PK and our keeper came in and made a big save to keep us in it. We just tried to work hard the whole game.”
This is the second time in two seasons the Greyhound have taken a top ten ranked team into overtime. Last season Eastern fell to No. 1 Midwestern 1-0 in overtime.
While the team has struggled at points this year, earning loses or ties against what are considered by the team easier opponents, they seem to always show up prepared for the tougher matchups. While the latter part of that equation is good, the former has hurt the Hounds several times this season.
“I think it just comes down to when you put certain teams on the field they step up bigger,” said Tate. “Its a mentality we need to get out of and make sure we are always pushing the tempo.”
The tie keeps ENMU in the hunt for a spot in the Heartland Conference playoffs, earning them one point against the conferences top team. Another solid takeaway for the Hounds is that they now have a backup keeper who is more than capable of giving them quality minutes off the bench.
Flores said, “Honestly I just wanted to keep the tempo going and keep my team in the game. Everyone was talking about these guys (Edward’s) being No. 6 in the nation, but it really doesn’t matter who we play as long as we come out and play our game.”