Second Half Surge Propels UHSP to Victory over Brescia

Led by Jacob Woodard's hat trick, the Eutectic men's soccer team came from behind to defeat the Brescia University Bearcats (Ky.) 4-3 on Wednesday night at Saint Louis University High School. It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.   

While the teams shared possession fairly equally in the first half, the Bearcats marked the board first. In the 10^th minute, Adam Byzdra received a through-ball, then dribbled around the Eutectic defender and fired it into the upper portion of the net from the left side of the goal area over UHSP goalkeeper Jack Wolfe. Fifteen minutes later, a pass from Ezekiel Isom from the left side of the goal area found Byzdra in perfect position directly in front of the goal to boot it in for the second Brescia goal of the night. The visiting team had a 2-0 advantage as they headed into halftime.

UHSP Head Coach Dan Hogan lit a fire under his team at halftime, and the Eutectics responded, wasting no time getting on the board in the second half. At just over a minute in, a Brescia handball inside the box set up a UHSP penalty kick. Jacob Woodard took the kick and drove the ball past BU goalkeeper Finn Martin into the lower left corner of the net for his fourth goal of the year.

Nearly 15 minutes later, the Eutectics' Grant Woodard floated a long pass from the left side across the front of the goal to a waiting Alvaro Montijano on the right side. Montijano intercepted the pass in the air with his right foot and sent the ball straight into the net for the second Eutectic goal of the night.

Less than a minute later, with the score tied at 2-2, the Eutectics regained possession and pushed forward quickly to try to beat the Brescia defense. After receiving the ball on the right side from Jacob Woodard, Mohammed Alkenani returned the ball through Montijano and back to Woodard who was open in front of the net for the third UHSP goal of the night.

The 3-2 lead didn't last long for the home team, however. Two and a half minutes later Brescia tied it up again with a header by Lance Dickens off a corner kick from Byzdra.

With 15 minutes left in the game, Pietro Martano stole the ball in the UHSP defensive end and sent a through-ball to Jacob Woodard who was near the 50-yard line. Woodard chased the ball and dribbled toward the Brescia goal with two defenders on his back. He settled it at at 20-yards out and used his left foot to bury it in the net to secure a hat trick and the game-winning goal.

That would be the final goal of the evening, as the Eutectics earned their third win of the season with a 4-3 victory over Brescia, who is now 1-7.

Freshman goalkeeper Jack Wolfe recorded seven saves in the game for his third win of the season for UHSP. BU goalies Finn Martin and Chase Garrett shared netminding duties for the visitors, finishing with one save apiece.

The Eutectics, now 3-5-1, will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 30, when they return to the Saint Louis University High School football stadium to host William Woods University (Mo.)(7-3-1) at 2 p.m.