Women’s and Men’s Soccer
Drovers Sweep St. Gregory’s 

CHICKASHA – A two-game losing slump for both teams came to an end Tuesday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of St. Gregory’s at Drover Field. The University of Science and Arts’ women collected a 2-0 win over the Lady Cavs, and the Drover men strolled to a 2-1 win. 

Both Drover teams collected their first conference wins of the season after starting off 0-2 against the top two men’s teams in the league and two of the top four teams in the women’s league standings. 

In the women’s game, freshman Brittany Jay scored her fifth goal of the season in the 29th minute to give USAO a 1-0 lead. SGU goalkeeper Helan LaVictorie misplayed the bounce of Jay’s 50-yard bomb, and the ball bounced over LaVictorie’s head and into the back of the net. 

USAO put the finishing touches on the win in the 87th minute when sophomore Alex Cernigliaro was taken down in the box and was awarded a penalty kick. Cernigliaro, who was slow to get up, deferred to teammate Taylor Smithwick, who converted the kick for her third goal of the season as the women improved to 4-4-1 overall and 1-2 in SAC play. 

The biggest surprise of the men’s 2-1 win over SGU was that the goalposts are still standing. Scoring only two goals had to be a little frustrating for the Drovers, but having goalposts that can withstand 38 shots and 13 shots on goal is truly a miracle of modern engineering. 

Dusan Rasovic scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 43rd minute on an assist from Nikola Cakarevic. The 1-0 halftime lead was deceiving, as was the final score, considering USAO started the game with a 20-1 advantage in shots. Wesley Costa scored what proved to be the game winner early in the second half on a pass from Scott Malek. 

SGU did challenge the Drover defense late in the game with a howling, south wind helping. SGU’s only corner kicks and seven of its eight shots came in the second half. The Cavaliers finally scored in the 63rd minute on a header by Antonio Ycaza, but USAO put the clamps on defensively and improved to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in the SAC.

 The USAO women host Wayland Baptist at 2 p.m. Friday at Drover Field, and both teams are in action on Tuesday at Oklahoma Christian beginning at 5 p.m.