MARSHALL, Texas – A scoreless first half would make way for a pair of goals by the LeTourneau University men's soccer team in a 2-0 shutout victory over East Texas Baptist University at Cornish Field in Marshall, Texas on Saturday, October 7th.

The victory sends the YellowJackets to 2-5-3 overall and 2-2-1 in the American Southwest Conference while the Tigers fall to 4-6-1 overall and 0-5 in the ASC.

"It felt like two different games tonight the way that the halves played out, but our guys were able to settle down in the second half and play their game which gave us the result we wanted" said head coach Matthew Haesecke in a post-game interview. "We put an emphasis on going towards the goal, and as a result we found the back of the net twice." "To earn a victory over our rivals is very pleasing and hopefully we can continue to build on our first shutout victory of the year."

LeTourneau would be forced to take long shots from outside the box in the first half, putting up two shots and earning a corner kick before ETBU would even put a shot up.  The Tigers would get opportunities on their end while forcing the YellowJackets to stay on the defensive side of things and limit chances, which led to a 7-4 advantage in shots in the first half. LETU would be carried by their senior goalkeeper Miguel Cabrera who would make multiple key saves in the half to keep the game tied at the break.

In the second half, the YellowJackets would settle in and push the ball into the attacking third of the field, letting off two shots in the opening five minutes of the half. The score would remain tied at zero until the 61st minute when Edgar Sanchez would turn on pass from 40 yards out on the left half of the field and shoot a laser off the far post that would deflect off of Tiger goalie Bryant Botello and make the score 1-0 in favor of LeTourneau.

Looking to extend their lead, a yellow card on ETBU would lead to a free kick sent into the box that would find junior Alec Wier who would score for the second consecutive game and double the YellowJacket lead to 2-0 just seven minutes after opening a 1-0 lead.

LETU's defense would stand tall throughout the rest of the game as the YellowJackets would nearly put a cap on things with Wier putting up a shot that would take a miraculous save by the Tigers. LeTourneau would end up settling for the two goal victory and earning their second consecutive win over East Texas Baptist in as many years.

East Texas Baptist outshot LeTourneau 11-10, but the YellowJackets put up seven shots on goal compared to six for ETBU. Cabrera would end up making six saves in net while keeping a clean slate to pick up the win.

A road game at the University of Ozarks is next in store for LeTourneau, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 12th.