A scoreless first half turned into a two-goal advantage for OUAZ as Master's got blanked 2-0 Saturday in Surprise, Ariz.
The Mustangs were credited with just six shots and only one of those on goal, while the Spirit fired 19 shots, nine of which were on goals. Mustangs Goalkeeper
Kian Bensend finished with seven saves, including a pair of brilliant stops on one-on-one breakaways.
"Kian was the man of the match for us," said Head Coach
Jim Rickard. "He had a really good game. He made a few saves that kept us in touch to maybe have a chance to at least tie it up."
This was the second game in three days in Arizona, where the heat became a factor.
"They (Master's players) aren't going to like to hear this because we lost both of these games but I was really proud of the guys," Rickard said. "Both games we really battled. The scores may not show it but in both games were were within striking distance late in the game against two very good teams."
OUAZ now sits on top of the GSAC standings and has proven this season to be a legitimate title contender. The Spirit is the only team to win both of their opening GSAC matches, are 7-2-1 overall and ranked No. 20 in the nation.
"We were the underdog and needed certain things to go our way," Rickard said. "We weren't going to win this game 1-0. We needed to get at least three goals and defend their speed. They are the No. 1-rated team in the conference for a reason and I thought we battled them tremendously."
"At the end of the day we gave everything we had, fought and fought and fought, but ended up losing to two very good teams."
Master's returns home next Saturday to play Westmont at 1:30 p.m. Following that match will be the Alumni game.
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