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INDIANAPOLIS - The heat was on tonight (Sept. 11) at Carroll Stadium and it got the better of the Jaguars' men's soccer team as they fell to Houston Baptist, 2-1. Playing in 92-degree weather and facing a winless record through five games, the Jaguars once again fell behind two goals before trying to claw back into the match.
 
The Jaguars looked dominant in the early going.

IUPUI (0-3-2) had multiple scoring opportunities in the first half and disrupted almost every attack from Houston Baptist (2-2) before it began. Despite their best efforts, the Jaguars were not able to take advantage of goalkeeper, George Kelley, who normally plays in the midfield but has filled in since the start of the season with all of HBU's regular goalies unavailable.
 
"We had six chances to score goals, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and we didn't score," Head Coach Isang Jacob said. "When you don't score goals, you give the other team energy and that's what happened. We gotta find guys that can score goals."
 
The Huskies found that energy in the middle of the first half and started to break down the Jaguars' defense. With three minutes to go in the half, defender Kyle Herbison curled a ball off a corner kick to the top of the six-yard box and Charlie Gagnon headed it into the back left of the net to give the guests a 1-0 lead.
 
IUPUI's Eduardo Cortes displayed excellent goalkeeping most of the night, fending off three consecutive shots following a corner kick from the left side in the second half. The Huskies kept their momentum going with quick attacks by forwards Kristopher Tyrpak and Tobenna Uzo and increased their lead with the first career goal by Stefan Lamanna in the 69th minute.
 
Having their backs against the wall, down 2-0 in the second half, is nothing new to IUPUI; this was the fourth consecutive match they have fallen behind by two goals.
 
"We cannot fight back all the time," Jacob said. But with about 20 minutes to go in the match, the team started to play with a bit more desperation. "In the last 20 minutes we have nothing to lose. We are already losing so let's see what we can get out there."
 
Sophomore Michael Sass, who started the game at center back and later moved to a forward spot, was able to capitalize on a perfect ball on a cornerkick from Evan Smith with a header into the back of the net to cut the deficit in half in the 78th minute. For Sass, it was his fourth career goal in 23 career starts. 
 
Given new life, IUPUI kept the attacks going right up until the final horn. Freshman Cristian Soto struck a shot from the right flank about 25 yards out and Cortes nearly scored on a free kick from midfield, but the Jaguars ultimately came up short for the third straight match.

IUPUI finished with an 18-15 advantage on shots, with Soto and senior Gregory Efiom closing with three apiece. Tyrpak and Uzo combined on nine shot attempts for the Huskies. Cortes ended the night with three saves as his record fell to 0-3-2 while Kelley made six stops in the victory. 
 
The Jaguars will look to record their first win this Friday at 8:30 p.m. when they head north up I-65 to take on Valparaiso from the Horizon League.