Box Score ODESSA, TEXAS – UT Tyler got more second half action as they have for most of the season to earn a crucial point on the opening weekend of Lone Star Conference play.
 
Both teams managed a total of nine shots and the Falcons totaled just one more shot on goal than the Patriots in a nearly dead square battle across the board.
 
Both teams did not wait long to start posting shots, and Brajdi Cekrezi got the first shot on goal just two and a half minutes into the game. Cekrezi made a great play on a loose pass before launching a well struck shot that was saved just in front of the net.
 
Two more shots for the Patriots followed over the next five minutes, but then UT Permian Basin looked to seize control. Throughout the next 15 minutes, the Falcons began putting the pressure on, forcing keeper Asier Vegas to make a pair of saves in a three minute stretch to keep the Falcons scoreless.
 
Over the remaining 23 minutes of the half, both teams would combine for just two shots as neither side could create a quality chance.
 
In the early stages of the second half, UT Tyler was able to jump out and create quick chances yet again. The Patriots were able to hold the Falcons to just two shots over the first 22 minutes while posting two shots of their own in the first 11 minutes of the half.
 
In the 78^th minute, UT Permian Basin earned their first big chance of the second half, breaking free on a counter attack and forcing Vegas to make a diving save. Just over a minute later, the Falcons busted through with their first and only goal of the game that slipped just past a diving Vegas.
 
Just seconds later, the Patriots struck right back. After a goal kick that was taken short, the Patriots applied strong pressure and forced an errant pass. That pass bounced right into the box, and Nolan Giles drilled a volley straight past the Falcons keeper to tie up the contest and force a 1-1 tie.
 
For Giles, today's goal was his team-leading fifth goal of the year on 15 shots.
 
The Patriots will pick up a crucial point on the day and it will go a long way in the season long race for the conference championship.
 
Next up for UT Tyler will be a critical LSC home-opener as they take on West Texas A&M inside the friendly confines of Citizens 1^st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex.