University of Southern Indiana junior forward Eric Ramirez (Vincennes, Indiana) scored a pair of second half goals to rally the Screaming Eagles to a 2-1 victory over Drury University to open Great Lakes Valley Conference action Friday afternoon at Strassweg Field. The Eagles see their record go to 3-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 GLVC, while the Panthers go to 0-4-1, 0-1-0 GLVC.
USI fell behind in the opening half when Drury scored the half’s only goal at 22:30. The Panthers would hold the 1-0 advantage though the halftime despite USI leading in shots, 8-5, and a 4-2 margin in corner kicks.
In the second half, the Panthers clung to the 1-0 lead until 82:55 when Ramirez took over. USI senior defender Kent Katzman (Spring Hill, Tennessee) ignited play with a pass to the right corner where Ramirez gathered ball. Ramirez’s first shot was saved by the Drury goalkeeper Nico Hellin before he slid the rebound into the back of the goal to knot the match at 1-1.
Ramirez struck again five minutes later with the eventual game-winning goal. Freshman midfielder Ryan Nevins (St. Peters, Missouri) started USI’s second scoring run by heading the ball of the Drury defense to Ramirez, who deposited the ball into the back of the goal for his second of the season.
Between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper Justin Faas (Carmel, Indiana) allowed one goal and made three saves to earn his third win of the year. Faas faced a total of seven shots, four on-goal.
The Eagles go back on the road Sunday when they visit Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. The Bulldogs, currently, are 2-0-1 overall and 0-0-0 in the GLVC and are slated to kick off against Lewis University at 3:30 p.m. at home this afternoon.
USI is looking to even the score with the Truman State and even the all-time record. Truman State leads 9-8-2 all-time in a series that dates back to 1983 when it was known as Northeast Missouri State University.
