HOUSTON, Texas - The Gardner-Webb men's soccer team opened the 2024 campaign with an impressive 3-2 win at Houston Christian on Thursday evening at Sorrels Field. The Runnin' Bulldogs posted a trio of scores in the first half before the defense stood tall in the second for the victory.
"We played some great sets in the first half an hour", said head coach Scott Wells. "The guys were dominant over the majority of the game and I am very pleased with the effort shown while we were able to gut out a season-opening win. In college soccer a win is a win and I am very, very happy with the way we played. The guys did not use the long day of travel and weather conditions as an excuse. We now turn our focus to Incarnate Word on Sunday evening."
Gardner-Webb established pressure early in the first half with a plethora of shots, but it was not until the 15
th minute that the Runnin' Bulldogs would strike for the first goal of the season following a solid strike off the boot of
Elias Khodri.
Breno Correia picked up his first assist of the year on the play.
That lead quickly doubled just over three minutes later as Khodri became the facilitator, finding
Leo Andrade in the box for a 2-0 lead at the 18:06 mark of the opening half.
Houston Christian found the back of the net in the 23
rd minute, trimming the deficit in half, but
Caio Hughes pushed the advantage back to two goals heading into halftime following a nifty score in the 38
th minute as
Lucas Gonzalez tallied a helper for GWU.
The Huskies wasted no time punching in a goal to begin the second half, collecting a score just 90 seconds into the second frame. However, that was the lone score of the second half as the Gardner-Webb defense stood strong the remainder of the way, coming away with the 3-2 win.
Gardner-Webb will be back in action on Sunday, August 25, heading over to San Antonio, Texas for a matchup with Incarnate Word. That contest is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
