Tiger soccer team comes alive in second half of 3-1 win

After failing to score for the first 65 minutes of Sunday's season-opening game against Eastern Oklahoma State College, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team would score three goals over the final 25 minutes to rally for a 3-1 win.

Tiger soccer team comes alive in second half of 3-1 win
August 22, 2022

After failing to score for the first 65 minutes of Sunday's season-opening game against Eastern Oklahoma State College, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team would score three goals over the final 25 minutes to rally for a 3-1 win.

Despite Cowley controlling the game, they trailed 1-0 at the end of the first half. The Mountaineers' Eduardo Santos scored four minutes before halftime to give Eastern Oklahoma the lead.

"The first half, we needed to be more stable mentally, but once we figured it out, we kept the opponent under control," Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said.

Cowley would tie the game up when freshman Sora Funakoshi scored off an assist from Hideto Gondo with 25 minutes remaining. Fourteen minutes later, freshman Filipe Freitas scored off another assist from Gondo to give the Tigers the lead.

"I am very happy for Freitas and Sora on scoring their first official goals as Cowley Tigers and hope we can keep up with the intensity and dedication," Vaz said.

Less than a minute later, Cowley would put the game away thanks to a goal from returning All-American Caique Trivelato. The assist came from Yuki Sekiguchi.

Sophomore goalkeeper Rafael Furlani faced only three shots in the game, while Cowley attempted 20 shots and placed six shots on goal.

"It was a good home opener," Vaz said. "We had a solid performance overall and were able to dominate the game.

The Mountaineers are now 0-2 on the season. Cowley (1-0) will remain home to face No. 15-ranked Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Wednesday at 7 p.m.