SILOAM SPRINGS -- Junior Erick Diaz scored his first goal of the season to break the scoreless deadlock, and the Golden Eagles added three second-half goals as the John Brown University men's soccer team defeated Southwestern A.G. (Texas) by a 4-0 final on Thursday evening (Oct. 27) at Alumni Field.
Senior Jacob Zamarron maintained his Sooner Athletic scoring lead by netting his 13th strike of the season, assisted on two other tallies, and senior Oscar Carballo added a pair of assists in his return as the Golden Eagles (9-2-3, 5-2-1) heavily out-shot the visiting Lions by a 27-4 margin.
The win now places JBU in control of its own destiny – if John Brown defeats Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, the Golden Eagles will clinch second place, allowing it to play host in the Sooner Athletic tournament through at least the semifinal stage.
Diaz opened the scoring in the 33rd minute by gaining control of a loose ball in the box with SAGU keeper Jose Ladoriel caught out of the position. Diaz curled to the outside and sent a long volley over Ladoriel and two Lions defenders into the empty goal – making his first of the season a game-winner.
While neither team was able to record a shot in the final 13 minutes of the first half, John Brown tacked on three more in the second half via tallies from senior Christian Marroquin, Zamarron and sophomore Jose Gabriel Rodriguez.
Zamarron worked the right-side goal line towards goal and laid a perfect pass into the middle to an oncoming Marroquin for a one-touch strike for Marroquin's third goal of the season.
Ten minutes later, Carballo sent a ball forward through the Lions (2-14-0, 0-8-0) back line, and with Ladoriel charging out of goal, Zamarron employed the outside of his foot to curl a shot over and around the misplaced goalkeeper to widen the match's spread to three.
Rodriguez finished the scoring in the 75th minute by completing a combination play that began with Carballo to Zamarron on the right side. Zamarron again laid a perfect centering pass to Rodriguez for a one-touch strike to the upper shelf. Rodriguez's second goal of the season handed the hosts a commanding 4-0 lead, where the scoring would end.
John Brown forced Ladoriel to make 13 saves on the night, while sophomore Kyle Hix needed just a trio of saves for his second shutout of the season, improving the netminder to 5-1-1 on the 2022 campaign.
Texas Wesleyan invades Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 29) as the Golden Eagles not only look to sew up the second seed in the tournament, but will celebrate senior day by honoring four Golden Eagles – Zamarron, Eli Jackson, Ethan Stockdale and Ivan Garcia – before the match. The critical contest will be available on the SAC Sports Network live.
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