Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – UT Tyler men's soccer battled tightly with #24 UCCS, but were unable to close the two goal gap late in the contest as the Mountain Lions picked up a 2-1 win in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
 
It took just under 10 minutes for the Mountain Lions to make it a 1-0 game, capitalizing on strong pressure in the early going. The UCCS offense continued the pressure, but goalkeeper Alan Johnson made a trio of saves on the next three shots from the Mountain Lions to keep the game at a 1-0 deficit.
 
Over the final 25 minutes of the half, the Patriots got their offense churning, as three different Patriots put up shots, with Jose Ramos putting one on goal.  In total, UCCS had a 12-4 shots advantage in the first half.
 
In the second half of play, UCCS again came out hot, but both teams would settle into a back and forth battle over a majority of the first 30 minutes of the final 45.
 
The back and forth affair ramped up heading into the final 10 minutes, with both sides also collecting yellow cards in the waning moments. In the 84^th  minute, the Mountain Lions got back on the board, taking advantage of a penalty kick as they extended their lead to 2-0.
 
The Patriots pushed the offense forward and finally broke through in the 88^th minute, as Niko Vasileiou broke through for his first goal as a Patriot. The goal was set up by a foul drawn by Jordan Toy, earning a free kick in a dangerous spot. Vasileiou stepped up on the ball, and he delivered perfection, tucking his shot just inside the top corner of the goal and cutting the deficit to just one.
 
The Patriots would push forward over the final minute and change, but were unable to get the equalizer as they fell by a final of 2-1 and move to 1-1-1 on the season.
 
UT Tyler will now set their sights on Saturday's matchup with #2 CSU Pueblo that takes place at 2 p.m. CT in Pueblo, Colorado. That matchup will be the final road non-conference matchup for the Patriots this season.