HBU Concludes Regular Season at Howard and Longwood

Huskies atop conference standings with 2-0 record

Francisco Diaz earned his second ASC Rookie of the Week award (Photo by Anthony Vasser)

HOUSTON – The HBU men’s soccer team will complete the regular season portion of the schedule with away matches at Howard on Friday and Longwood on Sunday.

The Huskies (6-8-0, 2-0-0 ASC) sit alone at the top of the conference standings with a perfect 2-0-0 record after home victories against Adelphi and NJIT. Freshman Francisco Diaz and junior Adi Mesic scored against the Highlanders, while senior Michael Bouchahine made five saves for the win. For their efforts, Bouchahine and Diaz earned conference accolades, Goalkeeper of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

HBU is led in scoring by junior Duke Ogega with six points, while Diaz and freshman Dan Dwyer are second with five. The trio lead the team with two goals while Ogega joins sophomore Adam Jakle with a team-leading two assists. Bouchahine has a record of 5-3-0 between the pipes for the Huskies, with a goals-against average of 1.31, a save percentage of .718 and two shutouts.

Howard’s (2-11-2, 0-1-1 ASC) latest match was a 4-0 loss at Longwood on October 24. The Bison have not scored in four straight matches, going 0-3-1 in that stretch. Phillip Borde leads the team in goals (3), assists (4) and points (10) and has one game winner. Victor Thomas has a record of 2-10-1, a goals-against average of 1.88, a save percentage of .784 and two shutouts.

“The key to this weekend is Friday’s match,” said head coach Steve Jones. “If we win, Sunday isn’t as important as the worst we can be is 3-1. It’s all in our hands, but it won’t be easy as it will be on an artificial turf field which we're not accustomed to and Howard will be fast and hungry to win.”

Longwood (4-10-2, 1-2-0 ASC) defeated Howard on goals by four different goal scorers: Martin Vickerton, Harvey Headley, Brian Germain and Josh Woodburn. Three days later, the Lancers fell at Virginia Tech by a score of 5-1 as Headley scored the lone goal, the first one in the match as the Hokies scored five unanswered.

Headley leads the team in goals (6) and points (13), while Germain and Marcus Dixon have team-leading two assists. Joel Helmick, who started both matches last week, has a record of 4-8-2, a goals-against average of 1.72, a save percentage of .647 and two shutouts.

“Longwood is deceptive. They are a better team than their record shows. They have a perfect record at home, they feel confident there and it’s very dangerous.”

After this weekend’s matches, the Huskies get nine days off before starting ASC Tournament play, hosted by Longwood. The tournament runs from November 12-15.