The late-game heroics of junior
Daichi Saito gave Utah Tech men's soccer its first WAC victory of the season 1-0 over Grand Canyon on Thursday night inside Greater Zion Stadium.
"These guys believed from last weekend," UT head coach
Jonny Broadhead said of his Trailblazers. "They knew they were right there and they took that into today's game. We're very proud of the guys and they'll celebrate in the locker room, but when they leave the locker room they'll focus on Sunday."
From a goal kick in the 86th minute, junior
Stockton Short played a long ball into the attacking third. The ball was headed into the box by UT's captain, redshirt junior
Ethan Bell, to a running Saito where the native of Sagamihara City, Japan, struck the ball with his left foot past diving GCU goalkeeper Leon Schmidt into the back-right corner of the net.
"To win on a goal kick that's flicked on — Daichi scored it on a great finish," Broadhead said. "The goalkeeper comes out and that's a quality finish from a good player."
The game-winner was Saito's first career goal in a Trailblazer uniform.
It took 30 minutes of play until junior
Tyson Nguyen missed just high to record the first shot of the game.
Short recorded his first save of the match in the 32nd minute stopping a shot to his left by sophomore Jorge Lopez.
Freshman
Elijah Dinkel challenged Schmidt down the middle in the 38th but was stopped.
Short kept GCU off the board before the break with a tall save in the 43rd minute.
Antelope junior Bright Nutornutsi had three of Grand Canyon's best chances, but he just missed right in the 56th minute and just left in the 62nd minute. In the 74th minute, his shot to the bottom right of the net was saved by Short.
"Grand Canyon spoiled a couple of chances — They're a good team," Broadhead said. "Bright is a very good player. He gave us a handful."
Both teams got off eight shots with the Antelopes holding a three to two advantage in shots on goal. GCU committed the bulk of the fouls, 19-7, with a staggering 13-2 discrepancy in the second half. Both teams were flagged for offsides on three occasions. Short tallied three saves compared to Schmidt's one.
The Trailblazers host UT Rio Grande Valley on Sunday, Oct. 20 inside Greater Zion Stadium. First touch is set for 1:30 p.m. and the match will be streamed on WAC International.
