ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Men's Soccer scored a pair of early goals and never looked back on an emotional Saturday night, as the War Hawks took down Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2-1, on Senior Night at Wilford Moore Stadium.
Prior to the game, McMurry Athletics honored seven seniors from the men's soccer program. One of those seniors was Miguel Esteban Jr., who scored both goals in the win. Fellow senior Jesus Gil assisted on both goals.
The win keeps McMurry (6-9-1, 2-6-1 American Southwest Conference) alive for a postseason tournament seed. McMurry has 10 points, just three behind Belhaven (10-5-1, 4-5-1), meaning a win at Hardin-Simmons and a Belhaven loss puts the War Hawks in the final slot.
Within the first ten minutes of the game, Gil collaborated with freshman Luis Lopez to send one to Esteban, who finished for the first goal of the contest. Esteban struck again near halftime off a left-side cross from Gil.
Esteban Jr. now has 10 goals on the season to rank second in the ASC.
UMHB (9-5-1, 6-3) put the pressure on in the closing moments, as Tyler Childs finally broke through for The Cru in the 88th minute. The McMurry defense clamped down in the final two minutes to hold off any thoughts of overtime.
On his senior night, Francisco Avilez fought off five shots on goal and eight UMHB corner kicks to keep his team in the lead. The win was his first of the season through two starts.
McMurry scored on its first two shots of the game, only taking two in the first half. The team finished with seven total and four on goal, including four from Esteban, two from senior Jesus Sanchez and one from Javi Mejia.
Also shining on senior night, defenders Jose Mireles and Colton Hunt played all 90 minutes and were integral in keeping McMurry on the winning side of the scoreboard.
McMurry will now turn its attention to a must-win regular season finale across town at Hardin-Simmons on Friday, Nov. 1. Kickoff from North Abilene is set for 7:30 p.m.
