TYLER, TEXAS – It was a blustery Saturday evening for soccer, but the Patriots weathered the wind and took their second consecutive 3-0 victory in LSC competition.
 
Early first half goals was the key to success on Wednesday night against Eastern New Mexico, but Saturday night saw a pair of second half goals put the Dustdevils away for good.
 
The Patriots mustered up the first two shots of the game in the first 13 minutes of the contest, but the Dustdevils answered with four of their own in a six minute stretch to put all of the pressure on the Patriots defense.
 
The first of those shots came at the 17 minute mark and was followed by another shot at the 21^st minute. That shot came off of a tightly struck corner kick that found the head of a streaking Tahja Reynolds, but the shot was deflected out by the Patriots defense and out for another corner.
 
That second corner was bounced around deep in UT Tyler territory, and Usman Sotomi was able to get a boot on it, but that shot was out high and out for a goal kick. Just one minute later, Magnus Poulsen took his chance on goal, but it was blocked by the Patriots defense yet again.
 
The 27^th minute saw Lukas Paulun check into the contest, and it would not take him long to make a big impact. After a pair of shots in the 33^rd minute, Paulun struck gold from a corner kick as he delivered a highlight reel goal for the ages. Rodrigo Mendes stepped up for the corner, and delivered a deep ball to the far side of the box that found Paulun for a scissor-kick rocket that slipped into the top left corner.
 
That goal from Paulun would be the lone goal in the first half and capped off a big swing in momentum after Texas A&M International seemed to put all of the pressure onto the Patriots defense.
 
Just four minutes into the second half saw the Patriots strike yet again. This time it was Craig Chisholm stepping up from the back line to collect a rebound and a goal.
 
A string of passes put the ball deep into Dustdevils territory, and Sergio Sola dropped a pass off to Shane Popieluch, who roped a hard shot that was blocked and bounced to Chisholm. Chisholm took a dribble to set his feet, and struck a hard, knuckling shot that found the back of the net to double the lead for UT Tyler.
 
The third and final goal of the night came from the foot of Sola, as Brajdi Cekrezi collected his team leading fourth assist of the year. In an almost mirrored attempt from Wednesday night that caught the crossbar, Sola took the pass from Cekrezi and dribbled to his right before unleashing a laser that just slipped under the bar to make it 3-0 in favor of UT Tyler.
 
That final goal led the Patriots to make a series of substitutions, as they were content to play keep away and hold onto the lead. The Dustdevils would take four total shots over a seven minute stretch from the 64^th minute onwards, but only one of those would test Vegas as he calmy collected a hard shot from Lassana Diakite from a set piece.
 
That would arguably be the best shot of the night for Texas A&M International as it doubled as the only shot on goal for the Dustdevils.
 
The Patriots outshot the Dustdevils 12-9 on the night, and held a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. That marks four consecutive games the Patriots have outshot their opponent.
 
Lukas Paulun now ties Nolan Giles for most goals on the team with five.
 
Paulun, Sergio Sola, and Brajdi Cekrezi each moved their season point total to 10, now tied for the second most on the team.
 
The Patriots now set their sights on a huge matchup with St. Mary's on Wednesday night in San Antonio, Texas. The Patriots will likely need at least a result against the Rattlers in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.