Harding Men's Soccer
Harding (0-2-0, 0-0-0) at Southern Nazarene (1-4-0, 0-0-0)
Location: Bethany, Okla. (Wes Harmon Field)
Time: Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.
Series: HU leads 3-2-0
Coaches: Harding – Odie Guzman (10-21-5, 3rd Season); Southern Nazarene – George Schroeder (39-67-5, 7th Season)
Live Video/Stats: Available through a link on HardingSports.com
Harding
Harding will play its first of 12 MIAA games Thursday on the road at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma.
Harding has not played since a 4-2 loss to Ouachita Baptist on Sept. 9 in Searcy. The Bisons had a game with Christian Brothers on Sept. 11 postponed to Nov. 3 due to poor weather.
Sophomore Dylan Sherrill scored only once in his first season as a Bison but has scored a goal in each of Harding's first two games. Both goals are game-tying goals. Sherrill has six shots, four on goal, and two goals.
The Bisons will play the Southern Nazarene game without defender Curtis Hunt, who received a red card in the Ouachita Baptist game. Kevin Pineda, who received a red card in Harding's opener against Dallas Baptist game and missed the Ouachita Baptist game, will return against Southern Nazarene.
Harding's active goal scorer, senior Ian Park, missed the Ouachita Baptist game with an injury. He is expected to return for the Southern Nazarene game. Park has 11 career goals.
Harding has three players who have played all 180 minutes in the first two games – defender Gehrig Haberstock, defender Phillip White, and goalkeeper Thomas Shults.
Five of the six goals Harding has allowed have come in the second half.
Southern Nazarene
Southern Nazarene is also playing its first MIAA game of the season after opening 2014 with a 1-4-0 record. The Crimson Storm has lost its last three games after defeating Oklahoma Christian 3-2 in overtime on Sept. 6.
The Crimson Storm is 0-3-0 at home this season, most recently suffering a 4-0 loss to Colorado-Colorado Springs on Monday.
Southern Nazarene has been outscored 16-9 this season. Senior midfielder Edgar Pineda (4 goals) and senior forward Blake Rodgers (3 goals) have combined to score seven of Southern Nazarene's nine goals.
Jeff Ray has started all five games in goal for Southern Nazarene. He has a 2.91 goals against average and has saved 68.3 percent of shots on goal.
The Series
This will be the sixth meeting between Harding and Southern Nazarene with the Bisons leading the series 3-2. Harding has won two of the three meetings in Bethany.
The series began in 2002 with Southern Nazarene winning 3-2 in Bethany. The two teams did not meet again until 2012 when the teams split two meetings, both winning on the road. Harding won both meetings in 2013, 4-3 in Searcy and 3-2 in Bethany.
