WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS – UT Tyler men's soccer fell by a final score of 2-0 to Midwestern State in the Lone Star Conference Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday night at Stang Park.
 
The Patriots battled tightly throughout the evening, but two goals 36 seconds apart in the 77^th and 78^th minute from the Mustangs ultimately provided the clearance they needed.
 
The two teams would trade pressure early in the first half, with both teams taking their turn taking shots. The Mustangs took the first shot on goal, but keeper Niclas Becker would make the early save. Another one came just under 10 minutes later, but Becker made another strong save. The first shot on goal for the Patriots came from Tony Ngombi in the 22^nd minute, but the Mustangs made the strong save to keep the game scoreless.
 
The Patriots held a 7-4 shots advantage in the first half and both teams would each earn a pair of corners.
 
UT Tyler came out of the halftime break firing, putting four shots together over the first 11 minutes of game action as they looked to put the Patriots out in front. Ngombi took another shot that would be blocked, and then Luan Rangel took a pair of shots that were both saved.
 
The Mustangs dug back in, taking a pair of shots as they started to flip the pressure back on the Patriots in the 70^th minute. Two more shots from the Mustangs in the 71^st minute were both saved by Becker as he continued his strong effort, but the Mustangs breakthrough drew closer.
 
The big one came in the 77^th minute, where the Mustangs connected on a pair of quick passes just inside the box before slipping the shot by the left post for the 1-0 lead. Just 36 seconds later, they were back to work from a free kick as they connected on a pass just outside the top of the box before connecting on a goal just inside the right post for the 2-0 lead.
 
With just under 13 minutes to go, the Patriots looked to mount their effort as Rangel took another shot on net, but it would be the last best chance for the Patriots on the night as the Mustangs closed out their 2-0 win.
 
Luan Rangel led the team in shots and shots on goal with five and three, and Tony Ngombi would take there more shots as the Patriots totaled 12 for the night.
 
The Patriots will finish a historic season at 8-8-3 and 4-4-2 in LSC play as they qualified for just their second ever LSC Tournament Semifinals and also picked up their first ever LSC Tournament win after defeating DBU last Saturday.