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Hilltop Views
The Student News Site of St. Edward's University

Hilltop Views
The Student News Site of St. Edward's University

Hilltop Views

SEU wins homecoming match against Dallas Baptist University 2-0

Emma Sutton, Staff Writer • November 10, 2024
Dani Brannon / Hilltop Views
Irvin Abarca, who scored SEU’s first goal against Dallas Baptist University, dribbles against a Patriots’ forward. Throughout this season, Abarca has played all 17 games of the season, and accounted for four assists and scored his first goal during the Homecoming game.

For their homecoming match, the SEU men’s soccer team faced off against Dallas Baptist University (DBU) on Saturday, Nov. 2. The result was a winning score of 2-0 for the Hilltoppers, their fourth shutout win over the last five games.

The match was held at Lewis-Chen Family field directly after the Homecoming Tailgate. This game was the homecoming game and senior night. The seniors who were honored were Todd Forbes, Jason Lyons, graduate assistant and former goalkeeper Kellen Gullion, Jommar Reyes and Joaquin Maud. Attendees of the tailgate trickled in to support SEU.

“I felt like (the fans) fired us up and made us more aggressive as well,” center back Irvin Abarca, who scored the Hilltoppers’ first goal, said. “It’s just like we were able to match their physicality up using the fans’ energy.”

DBU is known for their physicality while playing, which meant that the Hilltoppers were constantly playing on the defensive end. Abarca scored SEU’s first goal with an assist from Vincente Alvarez. This was also Abarca’s first goal while playing at St. Edward’s.

“We kind of like to pass the ball a little bit and they kind of like to hit it long and get physical,” Abarca said. “So now we know that we can play both sides of the game. This college talk, we have to adapt. This (was) a good test for us and we passed.”

SEU further secured their win with a goal from Masood Porsa, also in the first half. This may be SEU’s last home game of the season, with this win helping their battle for second place in the Lone Star Conference.

“Last year we had one draw, and they (DBU) tied the game at the very end. So, we’ve been waiting to play them for a whole year trying to get that win back. And honestly it felt personal today,” Porsa said. “So, scoring in the first half and then scoring again was just a phenomenal feeling. We’ve been putting in so much work over the last year. Last season we were last place, now we’re fighting for second place.”

The Hilltopper record has increased to an overall 7-4-4 and a 5-1-3 conference record, placing third in the Lone Star Conference standings. After falling to 1-0 to West Texas A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the team reached the Lone Star Conference Tournament quarter finals, and hosted the game against University of Texas at Tyler on Nov. 9.

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About the Contributor
Emma Sutton
Emma Sutton, Staff Writer
Emma Sutton is a junior a majoring in writing and rhetoric with a concentration in journalism and digital media. It is her second semester writing for Hilltop Views and first semester as a staff writer. She loves writing about all things pop culture but also has a soft spot for baseball.