10.27.07
Comets Clinch XXXXXX At ASC Tourney
White Moves Up To Second On Season Scoring Record List
MARSHALL/LONGVIEW, TX - The UTD men's soccer team finished up the 2007 regular season with a flurry, winning a pair of important games at East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau to finish just one point out of first place in the regular season American Southwest Conference race.
Junior Kevin White scored both goals in Friday's 2-1 win over ETBU, then added another goal along with an assist in a 3-2 win over LeTourneau Saturday. The three goals now move White to within a single goal of UTD's alltime single season record with 17 goals.
More importantly, UTD (now 13-3-2, 10-1-2) advances to the ASC Championship Tournament in Clarksville, Arkansas for the sixth consecutive season as the No. 2 seed and earns a bye into the tournament semifinals. The Comets will face the winner of a Friday match between the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and UT-Tyler at 2 pm Saturday. The Comets last won the ASC Tournament in 2004, and have been eliminated in the quarterfinal round the last two seasons.
The Comets needed to win to keep pace in the tight ASC race going into the final weekend and got just what they needed. White scored the first goal of the match three minutes into the second half, then got the game-winner at the 69:00 mark after ETBU had tied up the game. The loss put ETBU in a "must-win" situation heading into the Tigers' Saturday match with conference-leading Ozarks. ETBU needed to win one of its final two matches to clinch a post-season playoff berth.
UTD got the win it needed at LETU, but missed out on a regular season championship when Ozarks defeated East Texas Baptist, 2-0. The Comets had to work for the win, as well, rallying from a pair of early deficits to tie, then winning on Miguel Garcia's (pictured) second goal of the game at the 60:58 mark. Garcia got UTD's first goal on a penalty kick at 13:34 after LETU had taken an early 1-0 lead. After the YellowJackets scored again, White got his third goal in two days to tie the score at 51:35, then set up Mihai Cotet and Garcia for a header ricochet that won the game.