#21 MSU falls to West Texas A&M in 2OTs
CANYON, Texas -- West Texas A&M's Colin Bjostad weaved a ball through a crowded box to net the game winning goal as the 12th-ranked Buffs came away with a 2-1 double overtime win over No. 21 Midwestern State Sunday afternoon at The Pitch in Canyon.
The loss snapped a seven-match unbeaten streak for the Mustangs, who dropped to 8-2-4 on the season and to 0-2-1 in Lone Star Conference play after playing Eastern New Mexico to a 1-1 draw on Friday.
"We're disappointed with the results," MSU coach Doug Elder said. "We played really well against Eastern but just couldn't score in overtime. We create chances but have really struggled offensively over the past two games."
Freshman Ben Clarvis staked MSU to an early lead when his crossing pass got held up by brisk southerly winds and drifted over the reach of West Texas A&M goalkeeper Carlos Ruiz in the 26th minute.
"Everything was going to plan," Elder said. "We changed to a 4-5-1 alignment because we wanted to clog up the middle and hoped to score one early. We dominated the run of play in the first half, but they came back in the second half."
The Mustangs controlled a 10-5 edge in shots going into intermission, but would only take one second half shot allowing the Buffs to climb back into the match.
WT's Wayne Burton finished off a run-and-cross by Abel Olivas to notch the equalizer in the 65th minute and send the match into overtime.
"They didn't have a ton of great chances and took some on bad angles, but that was a very nice goal," Elder said. "(Burton) got through running at full speed and buried it."
West Texas A&M took the wind in the first overtime but the Mustangs were able to limit the Buffs to two shots opting to send numbers forward in the second overtime.
But the Buffs took advantage of a restart in the third minute of the second overtime resulting in Bjostad's game winning tally.
"The ball was cleared out and re-centered," Elder said. "It was a little bad luck, but the guys played hard and we had a chance to win. It seemed like every bounce that was going our way in the first half didn't in the second half."
Midwestern State hits the road to take on LSC-leading Incarnate Word Friday night at Benson Stadium in San Antonio. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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