College Sports

GEORGETOWN -- The UT Tyler men's soccer team finished 1-1 in its opening weekend of the 2008 season. The Patriots blanked host Southwestern, 2-0, on Friday and lost to No. 2 Trinity, 3-1, on Saturday.

On Friday, senior Michael Kendall led the way for his team scoring one goal and one assist on the evening. Junior Tony Guillen had the first goal of the game, which turned out to be the game winner, just 34 seconds into the second half.

Sophomore goalkeeper Mark Oliphant had eight saves in the match and notched the first solo shutout of his career.

On Saturday, the Patriots took on 2007 NCAA Division III national runner-up, Trinity. Going into the game, the Tigers had not lost a regular season contest since the 2004 season. Unfortunately for the Patriots, that streak will go on for at least another week.

UT Tyler took an early lead on a goal from Tony Guillen off of a pass from Carlos Reyes just 22 minutes into the first half.

However, the Tigers would score in the 33rd minute to even things up going into the break.

The score would remain at 1-1 for most of the second half, until Trinity scored the go-ahead goal at the 85:22 mark. The Tigers would extend their lead in the 88th minute with an insurance goal for the 3-1 win.

Oliphant added two saves in Saturday's game to bring his season total up to 10.

The Patriots' home opener is Sept. 11 against Division II Harding. Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

SHREVEPORT, La. - Sophomore Lauren Thomas led UT Tyler women's soccer team in shots and scored its lone goal in the Patriots' 1-0 season opening victory over Oklahoma Christian.

Thomas' goal was set up by a cross from senior Jessica Pierce that caught the OCU goalkeeper moving in the wrong direction.

The Patriots came out strong, outshooting OCU in the first half 8-3. The sustained pressure in the Eagles' half of the field earned the Patriots six corner kicks to OCU's zero. UT Tyler finished the match as strong as it started and outshot OCU 13 to 6 on the day.

Thomas had three shots on the afternoon with two on goal. Pierce, Leah Soloman, Kendall Kramer and Lauren Daily each had two shots, while Amanda Thomas and Shelby Rozell also had a shot.

The Patriots' defense proved to be just as potent as their offense, allowing just three shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Sam Fraser played the full 90 minutes and earned a solo shutout with three saves.

WACO, Texas -- The University of Texas at Tyler men's and women's cross country teams opened 2008 seasons on Friday night by taking fourth and seventh place, respectively, in the Bear Twilight Invitational hosted by Baylor.

The fourth place finish for the men marks a two-place improvement over their performance in this same race last season.

The Patriot men, the only Division III side in the meet, finished behind Division I schools Lamar and Baylor and Division II Tarleton State.

UT Tyler proved worthy of its No. 1 regional ranking by beating out Division I Texas Christian and Division II programs Dallas Baptist, Angelo State and West Texas A&M.

Senior Ben Donnan (Paris, Texas) led the way for the Patriots with a 10th place finish in a time of 19:24 in the 6K race.

Fellow seniors Warren Brown (Lindale, Texas) and R.J. Cowan (Whitehouse, Texas) followed closely behind in 12th and 17th places, respectively.

Newcomer Philbert Mutuyimana (Glendale, Ariz.) came in fourth for the Patriots and 35th overall with a time of 20:45. Senior Bojan Kajtaz (Kakanj, Bosnia) rounded out the scoring for UT Tyler in 45th place in 21 minutes and four seconds.

Junior Francis Kasagale of Lamar won the men's race with a time of 18:23.

On the women's side, the top finisher for the Patriots was sophomore Sarah Hankla (Tyler, Texas). Hankla finished the 4K race in 35th place with a time of 16:37.

Junior Jessica Beers (Hughes Springs, Texas) and senior Julianne Armstrong (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) were next in line for UT Tyler at 65th and 70th places, respectively.

Freshman Kamie Cook (Whitehouse, Texas) came in at 74th place, followed by sophomore Rachel Carol (Tyler, Texas) at 75th.

Junior Nicole Jones of host Baylor won the race in a time of 14 minutes and three seconds.

Both teams will return to action on Sept. 6 when they host their only home meet of the season, the UT Tyler Invitational.