Harding Men's Soccer
Ouachita Baptist (0-2-0) vs. Harding (0-1-0)
Location: Searcy, Ark. (Stevens Field)
Time: 7 p.m.
Series: HU leads 11-4-2
Coaches: Harding – Odie Guzman (10-20-5, 3rd Season); Ouachita Baptist – Kevin Wright (11-21-1, 3rd Season; 45-50-7, 7th Season as a head coach)
Live Video/Stats: Available through a link on HardingSports.com
Harding
· Harding plays its home opener Tuesday against Ouachita Baptist after falling 2-1 to Dallas Baptist in its season opener on Thursday.
· Sophomore Dylan Sherrill scored Harding's goal against Dallas Baptist, the second of his career.
· Harding had 12 shots vs. Dallas Baptist, with Sherrill and Christopher Walker recording three each.
· Redshirt freshman Thomas Shults started and made three saves for the Bisons. Freshman defender Aaron Craig also made his Harding debut, starting and playing 79 minutes as a defender.
· Harding concluded the 2013 season with a 6-8-2 overall record and a 3-6-0 mark in the MIAA. The Bisons finished fifth in the MIAA, one spot away from the last conference tournament berth.
· Harding is picked to finish fifth again this season in the MIAA, the Bisons' last in the conference before the Great American Conference adds men's soccer for the 2015 season.
· Harding returns nine starters off last season's team, including senior forward Ian Park, Harding's leading goal scorer with six.
· Park is also Harding's active leader with 11 career goals and 26 points. Christopher Walker has five career assists to lead Harding in that category.
· Last season, Harding ranked 42nd of 188 NCAA II teams in scoring offense (2.00 goals per game). The Bisons were 138th in team goals-against average (1.88 goals allowed per game).
Ouachita Baptist
· Ouachita Baptist is an independent member of NCAA Division II in men's soccer. The university is located in Arkadelphia, Ark.
· The Tigers lost both games in San Antonio over the weekend. Ouachita fell 3-1 to Texas A&M-International and 3-0 at St. Mary's. OBU's only goal of the weekend came on a Taylor Goyen penalty kick in the 89th minute against Texas A&M-International.
· Ouachita Baptist finished 3-9-1 overall last season, winning all three games on the road. The Tigers were 0-5 at home.
· Nathan Gay led Ouachita Baptist in scoring last season with three of the Tigers' 14 goals, including two on penalty kicks. Gay is not on the 2014 roster.
· David Henley, a senior in 2014, started 12 of Ouachita Baptist's 13 games at goalkeeper last season. He had a 1.70 goals against average and an 82.5 save percentage with one shutout.
· Last season, Ouachita Baptist ranked 157th in Division II with 1.00 goals per game and 130th with 1.76 goals against per game. The Tigers were second in Division II with 7.73 saves per game.
The Series
· Harding leads the series with Ouachita Baptist 11-4-2 overall and 7-1-0 in Searcy. The Bisons won both meetings last season, defeating the Tigers 3-1 in Arkadelphia on Sept. 17, and 1-0 in Searcy on Oct. 7. Harding has won four of the last six meetings overall, including the last three in Searcy.
· Harding has scored 34 goals in the series and allowed 24.
· In the first meeting last season, Harding outshot Ouachita Baptist 23-12 in Arkadelphia and used a pair of Ian Park goals in the first half to defeat the Tigers 3-1. Barry Foster added a goal in the second half for Harding, and Nathan Gay scored for Ouachita.
· Jacob Stevens scored less than seven minutes into the game in Searcy to give Harding the 1-0 victory. Ouachita Baptist managed only four shots on goal, and Will Lynn stopped each of them for the shutout.
· Ian Park has three goals in six games against Ouachita. Foster, Stevens and Christopher Walker also have scored against the Tigers. Brock Williams is Harding's career goal-scoring leader against Ouachita with four goals, three of them game-winner. Williams also leads Harding with four career assists against the Tigers.
