PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team scored a season-high five goals as the Hounds cruised to a 5-2 victory over UT-Permian Basin Thursday night at Greyhound Stadium.
It was only the third time in the last five seasons that the Hounds (5-5-1, 3-3-1 Heartland) scored five or more goals in a match, the last coming in a 5-4 double overtime victory last season against UC-Colorado Springs. It would not take long for Eastern to get into the swing of things in this match scored early and often against the Falcons (1-10, 0-7 HC).
As the match just entered the second minute, freshman forward Aderi Arthur-Dede received a long pass from Gabriel Peres and dribbled past the UT-Permian Basin defense, firing a shot from 15 yards out on the right side past the diving keeper to give the Hounds the early 1-nil advantage.
The Greyhounds would spare little time in adding to that advantage. In the 12th minute, Peres’ corner kick was headed in by sophomore defender Joao Gabriel Andrade for his second goal of the season, stretching the Eastern lead to 2-0.
At the 21:55 mark, Peres contributed to the scoring party as his header found the back of the net off of a beautiful cross from senior midfielder Jose Tabares-Ochoa to make it a three goal advantage for the Hounds going into the halftime break.
The Greyhounds continued to keep the pressure on the Falcons in the second half as Arthur-Dede added his second goal of the contest in the 73rd minute. Sutton’s corner kick from the right side was perfectly placed inside the box and Arthur-Dede’s header got past the keeper to make it 4-nil.
Moments later, the Falcons scored their first goal of the contest. At the 72:56 mark, the Hounds were called for a handball 20 yards out from the net. The free kick taken by Oscar Canela was fired just barely out of the reach of Hounds goalkeeper Ross Dalton to cut the Eastern lead to three.
At the 88th minute, Canela added his second goal of the contest as his shot from 15-yards out found the back of the net, making it a 4-2 score.
However, the Hounds would add one more score before the evening was over. In the 90th minute, freshman midfielder Marvin Lewin’s corner kick was headed in by freshman forward Julian Trapp for his second goal of the season, stretching the advantage back to 5-2.
With two goals in the contest, Arthur-Dede tallied four points and took sole possession of the team-lead with six goals on the season.
Peres added four points of his own as finished the match with a goal and a pair of assists, giving him four goals and a team-leading four assists on the season.
Eastern will return to the road on Saturday as the Hounds will travel to Canyon, Texas for one of their toughest contests of the season against #23 West Texas A&M. The match is slated for a noon start.
