TYLER, TEXAS – Luke Ryan became the star of the show on Saturday afternoon after a seven save game kept Lubbock Christian scoreless and secure a 0-0 draw in Lone Star Conference action.
 
In the early going, it was UT Tyler on the offensive as Jordan Toy picked up his first start as a Patriot and looked to make the most of it. He hooked up twice with the midfield on a pair of through balls and put a pair of shots up, but only one went on net and was saved by the Chaps keeper.
 
Just five minutes later, it was Ryan making his first save of the game as he made a diving effort and threw his right boot at a shot to deflect it wide at the 15 minute mark.
 
Seven minutes later, the Chaps put together another huge run through the middle, but the shot found the woodwork and bounced away to keep the score at 0-0.
 
Another big chance for the Patriots came with just over 15 minutes remaining in the half. Rodrigo Mendes made a long run down the sideline and made his man miss, and he delivered a clean pass to the top of the box to a waiting Bryan Rivas-Guzman, but his shot was just deflected over the bar.
 
That first half ended with a 6-5 shots advantage for the Patriots, and a 2-2 tie in saves by each team. The Patriots earned six corners to just two for the Chaps.
 
It took just four minutes into the second half for the Patriots to put together another big opportunity, as Salomão Saboia made the run down the right sideline before launching a pass to the back post for a waiting Toy. Toy sent in a header to the near post, but the Chaps keeper was there. That ball was deflected out to Thato Meko, but his shot just went wide and the game remained scoreless.
 
At the 54 minute mark, the Chaps earned a free kick. That kick resulted in a shot that Ryan made another remarkable save on and forced a rebound. That rebound was put into the back of the net, but the player was ruled offsides and the game remained at 0-0.
 
The Patriots took their turn just seven minutes later, as a collection of passes into the box finally put Mendes in a spot just outside the six yard box. He put his head to the loose ball and put it on net, but again the Chaps keeper was in the right place to make the stop.
 
Over the final 24 minutes, Luke Ryan would make four huge saves as he continued to be a brick wall in net for the Patriots. The first of which came at the 66 minute mark as he again stuck out his foot to make a big save. Just two minutes later, he would calmly make another save as the Chaps again laced a shot on net.
 
With just over 13 minutes left, the Chaps earned a dangerous free kick on the Patriots half of the field. Again it was swung into the box, but Ryan came off his line to secure the ball.
 
The biggest save of the night may have come in the 85^th minute, as the Chaps made a big run down the right side to open up the box. The ball was swung into a dangerous area, and Ryan made a diving stop. The ball got away from him on the save and rolled itself to the touch line before hitting the post and just staying out of the net as Ryan recovered to fall back on it before the Chaps could finish it off.
 
One final effort in the closing seconds from the Patriots came from Luis Mahecha, as he delivered a hard shot from his right foot that went all the way across the front of the goal but just missed the left post and went wide.
 
For Ryan, his seven saves bring his total up to 17 on the season. His save percentage climbs to 89.5%, and his goals against average sits at just 0.41 per contest.
 
The Patriots pick up a critical point in LSC play as they now look ahead to next week as they take on Oklahoma Christian and West Texas A&M.