EDMOND, Okla. – Travis Collins finished a 97th-minute in corner kick with a header into the back of the net, lifting UT Tyler to a 2-1 overtime road win over Oklahoma Christian Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the Patriots' first Lone Star Conference win after producing points with draws against Top 25-ranked opponents, and they scored both goals in nearly identical fashion off corner kick opportunities. Nicolas Viader scored in the 49th minute when he headed a corner kick from Shane Popieluch past the Oklahoma Christian goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead early in the second half, and Collins finished Caio Godinho's corner kick in the 97th minute for the game-winning golden goal.
With the win, UT Tyler improves to 6-2-2 overall and 1-1-2 in Lone Star Conference play. Oklahoma Christian falls to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in LSC play.
How It Happened: Despite Oklahoma Christian's 7-1 advantage in first-half shots, the game went into halftime tied at 0-0, and UT Tyler capitalized on its first second-half opportunity when Nicolas Viader headed a corner kick from Shane Popieluch underneath the OCU goalkeeper to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute.
Maxime Trabichet scored unassisted in the 81st minute to tie the game, scoring from 25 yards out into the upper 90 for the equalizer. Michael Agyeman nearly scored just two minutes later with a shot off the post, but Oklahoma Christian held off the Patriots for the final nine minutes of regulation to force overtime.
In overtime, Agyeman put a shot on goal which forced a save but led to the eventual game-winner, as Caio Godinho delivered a corner kick to the near post. From there, Travis Collins directed it over the hands of the goalkeeper into the back of the net for the game-winner, his third goal of the season.
By The Numbers: Nicolas Viader scored his first goal of the season, while Caeio Godinho registered his first assist, giving UT Tyler's balanced attack 13 different goal scorers on the season and 18 different players with a goal or an assist… Oklahoma Christian finished with a 14-11 edge in shots, although the Patriots held a 10-7 edge in shots after halftime… UT Tyler generated 10 corner kicks, conceding only 6 corner kicks to the Eagles.
What's Next: After playing seven games in the past three weeks, the Patriots are down to just one game next week, a Saturday, Oct. 19 Lone Star Conference home game against St. Mary's, which currently sits tied for second in the league with 12 points and a 4-1 conference record.
Quotable (UT Tyler head coach Kenny Jones): "Corner kicks have been a focus for us all year, and it's just been a matter of putting it together and executing in games, and today we did. Twice."
"Obviously we'd like to prevent games from going to overtime if we can, but knowing that if it does go into overtime, having past success is helpful. The guys know they can win, even when it goes into those extra minutes. Their spirit is good, they want to win, they try their best, and their effort is always great. We still have things we need to work on, but with our belief in ourselves and a good spirit, we compete well and give ourselves an opportunity to win in the end. We still have a very tough road with the coming schedule, so it's nice to get that first Lone Star Conference win under our belt."
