Jose Briseno – USU Eastern Assistant SID

Photo courtesy of Dallin Grant

The Utah State Eastern men’s soccer team hosted its final home matches of the season against Truckee Meadows Community College and the College of Southern Idaho.

The Eagles first faced off against Truckee Meadows in a match dominated by Eastern. Owen Gaisford scored in the 5th minute to give Eastern an early 1-0 lead. In the 16th minute, Brody Stanton scored Eastern’s second goal of the match. Just over a minute later, Leandro Robles scored to give Eastern a 3-0 lead in the first half. Robles kept the ball rolling with his second goal of the match in the 35th minute. Oliver Palafox scored Eastern’s fifth goal of the match in the 43rd minute. Eastern entered the break with a 5-0 lead.

Gaisford scored his second goal of the match in the 61st minute to give Eastern a 6-0 lead. Tumwa Mbanga scored in the 86th minute to extend Eastern’s lead. USU Eastern won the match 7-0.

Saturday’s matchup against Southern Idaho was a win-or-go-home match for both teams. Whichever team won the match would make the Scenic West Athletic Conference Tournament.

Owen Gaisford scored in the 26th minute to give Eastern an early 1-0 win. Both teams battled in the first half, but the score remained 1-0 at halftime.

Brody Stanton scored in the 78th minute to extend Eastern’s lead to 2-0. After fending off CSI late attacks, Stanton scored Eastern’s third goal in the 90th minute to officially send USU Eastern to the conference tournament.

The Eagles will travel to Salt Lake Community College to take on the Snow College Badgers in the first round of the SWAC tournament. The match is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30.