TYLER, Texas – Sophomore Eduardo Macias netted an 87^th minute goal on Thursday evening to help the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team salvage a 2-2 draw against University of Texas Tyler.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 2, UTT 2
Records: UCCS (1-1-1, 0-0-0 RMAC), UTT (1-0-1, 0-0-0 LSC)
Facility: Perkins Soccer Complex | Tyler, Texas  
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions move to 1-0-1 all-time against the Patriots.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening 20 minutes of Thursday evening's match saw UT Tyler hold a decided offensive advantage as they managed to record five early shots while holding the Mountain Lions off the stat sheet. Although each of the Patriots' first five shots went off target without much of a threat, they found the frame on their sixth shot of the contest in the 24^th minute as Luan Rangel corralled a loose ball and fired a left-footed strike past a diving Hugo Sjöberg to give UT Tyler a 1-0 advantage.
• 10 minutes after surrendering the first goal of the match, the Mountain Lions finally built some momentum on the offensive side of the ball as Eduardo Macias created some space and found a good look at the net in the 34^th minute but wound up sailing the shot high over the crossbar.
• The momentum shifted back in the favor of UT Tyler with less than two minutes before the half as a foul on UCCS gave the Patriots a look at a free kick from directly outside the penalty box. Jaxson Stovall unleashed a bending strike to the top right corner of the frame, but Sjöberg made an incredible save at the last moment to deflect the ball over the top of the goal. On the ensuing corner kick, Sjöberg was once again able to corral the ball to keep the Mountain Lions' deficit at just a single goal heading into the halftime break.
• The Mountain Lions wasted little time finding an equalizer coming out of the half as Sean Belzer entered the game as a halftime substitution and made an immediate impact in the 49^th minute by collecting an errant cross attempt and unleashing a laser into the bottom left corner of the net to bring the match even at one goal apiece.
• It didn't take long for the Patriots to find a response to the Mountain Lions' first goal of the game, however, as Rangel placed an unreachable shot into the top right corner of the frame in the 53^rd minute for his second goal of the match, breaking the tie and giving UT Tyler a 2-1 lead.
• Now trailing by a goal once again, UCCS ramped up their offensive efforts and found multiple scoring opportunities down the stretch including a shot on goal from Cameron Radeke in the 64^th minute and a sequence in the 77^th minute that saw the Mountain Lions record a trio of good looks at the frame that were each turned away by the Patriots' defense.
• The offensive pressure of the Mountain Lions paid off in the 87^th minute as a long throw in from deep in the attacking zone led to a loose ball inside the box that was secured by Eduardo Macias and tapped into the corner of the frame to bring the match back to even at 2-2.
• Each team found one final shot on goal across the final few minutes of the contest but both shots were turned away on incredible saves by the respective goalkeepers as the match concluded in a 2-2 draw.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• The sophomore duo of Macias and Belzer scored their first goals of the season, with Macias also pacing the Mountain Lions in total shots with four in the game.
• UCCS matched UT Tyler with 14 total shots in the contest, putting five shots on goal compared to four for the Patriots. In addition to the four shots from Macias, nine other UCCS student-athletes recorded at least one shot, including a pair of shots from defender Rory Scott.
• Sjöberg logged a full 90-minute performance in the frame for the Mountain Lions, surrendering two goals while making a pair of saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Playing in his 23^rd game as a Mountain Lion, Macias recorded his first collegiate goal and established a new career-high with his four-shot performance.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will head to Dallas, Texas on Saturday, Sept. 13 to take on Dallas Baptist University for a 12 p.m. kickoff at Patriot Soccer Field.

SOCIAL
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics. 
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