Men's Soccer 11/11/2014 5:38:00 PM

OCU outlasts Texas Wesleyan

Stars advance to SAC Tournament championship

Danny Frid scored on a penalty kick to give the Stars the victory.

Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City University survived a surge from Texas Wesleyan, winning 3-2 in double overtime Tuesday at Stars Field to advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament finals.
The Stars have won eight of their last nine matches. OCU (10-4-2) hosts USAO at 6 p.m. Friday at Stars Field in the SAC Tournament championship.
Ruy Vaz, a senior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, put OCU ahead early. In the eighth minute, Jeffrey Matthews, a freshman from Dallas, found Vaz in the middle of the field. Vaz danced his way around Texas Wesleyan defenders before beating the keeper to put the Stars up 1-0.
Texas Wesleyan roared back and scored two goals in two minutes. Brandon Head found himself one-on-one with the goalie and netted his ninth goal of the season in the 34th minute. Ross McArthur scored just two minutes later for the Rams. Head provided the assist.
"It's always the difficult way," OCU coach Brian Harvey said. "I felt we were playing very well when we were winning 1-0. It was a comfortable lead. We looked very good on the ball, we were playing with a lot of confidence. Then we made an error, and the panic button started. We never played as well in the second half as we did in the first 20, 30 minutes."
The Stars came back to tie the score in the 42nd minute. Oklahoma City had a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Alexandre Taiar, a freshman from Sao Paulo, Brazil, took a shot that hit the cross bar. Logan Stewart, a freshman from Denton, Texas, was there to collect and scored his first goal of the season at the most opportune time.
Regulation ended with the 2-2 tie.
After one overtime, Daniel Yeom, a junior from Tongyeong, South Korea, got tripped up just inside the box to give OCU a penalty kick. Danny Frid, a senior from Raunds, England, stepped up and buried his sixth goal on the season in the 102nd minute to advance the Stars.
Vladimir Kalajdzic, a freshman from Novi Sad, Serbia, gathered seven saves in the win for the Stars.
"Coach said we never like to do it the easy way," Frid said. "It was good to get a win in very difficult conditions, very windy. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the first half. The lads dug in and we got out. Just one more now."

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament
MEN
Saturday's Results
Quarterfinals
John Brown 2, Wayland Baptist 1
Oklahoma City 2, Mid-America Christian 1
Texas Wesleyan 2, Southwestern Christian 1
USAO 5, Oklahoma Baptist 0
Tuesday's Results
Semifinals
USAO 4, John Brown 0
Oklahoma City 3, Texas Wesleyan 2 (2OT)
Friday's Match
Championship
USAO at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Danny Frid: D; 6' 2"; Senior

#9 Ruy Vaz: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#18 Daniel Yeom: D; 5' 8"; Junior

#6 Logan Stewart: F; 5' 9"; Freshman

#1 Vladimir Kalajdzic: GK; 6' 3"; Freshman

#13 Jeffrey Matthews: F; 6' 4"; Freshman

#15 Alexandre Taiar: MF; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Danny Frid
: 6' 2"; Senior
: D

#9 Ruy Vaz
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#18 Daniel Yeom
: 5' 8"; Junior
: D

#6 Logan Stewart
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: F

#1 Vladimir Kalajdzic
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: GK

#13 Jeffrey Matthews
: 6' 4"; Freshman
: F

#15 Alexandre Taiar
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: MF