TYLER, Texas – A hard fought defensive effort came up short as LSU Eunice men's soccer fell to Cowley College 1-0 in the opening game of the NJCAA National Tournament on Monday at the Pat Hartley Complex.  The Bengals (8-5-2) will play Arizona Western tomorrow at 12:30PM needing a win to stay alive at Nationals.
 
The two sides played to a stalemate in the first half, thanks in large part to a penalty kick save from Diego Montoya Casillas (Cuernavaca, Mexico, Instituto Oriente de Puebla).  The Bengals' fouled inside the 18-yard box just six minutes into the game.  Montoya would go with the attempt to his left to make the save.
 
LSUE's best chances in the half came from Jose Escobar (Fort Pierce, FL, Fort Pierce Central HS) with both shot attempts being saved by Cowley.
 
The only goal of the game would come off an opportunistic bounce following a series of outstanding saves from Montoya in the 59th minute.  The Tigers would build up down the left side with Montoya stepping in front of a cutting Cowley attacker near the six-yard box.  A wild scrum would result in Montoya making a diving save, flying back to punch away another attempt followed by a third shot batted away at the goal line by the Bengals' back line. 
 
The rebound would end up with Cowley out wide with a ball floated back in and headed for a goal by Masaya Sekiguchi.
 
The Bengals would have a game tying scoring chance come just a few minutes later as Obeng Tabi (Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Evangeline HS) was able to get to the end line, feeding Jose Escobar at point blank range.  Escobar's shot was punched up and out of play.
 
LSU Eunice will need a victory tomorrow to keep hopes of advancing to the knockout round alive.