OKLAHOMA CITY -- Junior Alejandro Ramirez poured in four goals and the John Brown University men's soccer scored two goals in the final 10 minutes, breaking a 4-4 tie, to defeat Oklahoma City by a 6-4 fulltime score on Saturday (Oct. 14) afternoon at Brian Harvey Field, extending the win streak to five consecutive matches.
The six goals proved to be the most goals scored by John Brown at Brian Harvey field in the 27 matches played at the pitch, dating back 30 years to 1993 – a 5-4 John Brown extra-time win.
With the match level at four apiece and time winding down, senior Erick Diaz finished a cross from senior Jacob Zamarron at the far left post, notching his team-leading third game-winner of the season. City keeper Danilo Vilani came out to intercept but instead took out Ramirez while the cross continued on to Diaz for the pedestrian rip into the empty goal.
It's only happened five times before in program history ... today it happened again when Alejandro poured in FOUR goals in #goJBU MSOC's 6-4 win at Oklahoma City!!
Posted by John Brown University Athletics on Sunday, October 15, 2023
With 17 seconds left in the match, the Golden Eagles (8-4-0, 5-0-0 Sooner Athletic) began a counter-attack with City pressing, sprung by a clear from junior Tomas Perrachon up the right flank to senior Oscar Carballo. Carballo worked around his defender and raced towards Vilani with Ramirez supporting.
Unselfishly, Carballo fed Ramirez at the top of the box, and after one touch to fight off the defender, Ramirez tapped a shot that barely crossed the goal line past an oncoming Vilani for his sixth of the season.
The four-goal outing was the second hat trick for Ramirez in his career, and the performance was just the sixth time in program history a Golden Eagle has netted four or more goals a single match – the first since Ashby Clark's four-goal effort versus Texas Wesleyan in 2018.
Ramirez accounted for all the John Brown offense in the first half as his brace provided the visitors a 2-0 lead at the half. Carballo's feed upfield sprung Ramirez into a one-on-one with a City defender in the 15th minute – Ramirez burned the defender with a crossover and ripped a shot to the near side of goal for a 1-0 advantage.
In a similar fashion, senior Matej Urbanija's boot forward down the pitch found Ramirez behind the City line, timed perfectly, before he ripped a shot from eight yards past Vilani for a 2-0 advantage.
Oklahoma City pulled within one in the 51st, but just six minutes later, Carballo sent a free kick just outside the box to the far right pocket of goal to rebuild a two-goal lead for JBU, 3-1.
Ramirez completed the hat trick four minutes later in the 62nd minute when he tapped in a pass from Zamarron on the right side. The pandemonium in the box began with Ramirez's low cross into the box, until Perrachon dumped a pass over to Zamarron to continue the eventual scoring play.
The Stars then retaliated with a pair of goals in just 55 seconds to level the match at four in the 75th.
Junior Kyle Hix improved to 8-2-0 on the season, saving one of five shots he faced. John Brown concluded the match with a lopsided 27-6 shooting advantage despite the narrow victory.
John Brown returns to Alumni Field on Tuesday (Oct. 17) afternoon to take on Central Christian (Kan.) at 7 p.m. The match will stream live on the SAC Sports Network.
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