The Incarnate Word men’s soccer team had to fight back from a 3-1 deficit on Sunday on the road against Texas-Permian Basin and won the Heartland Conference matchup, 4-3, in overtime.
Jason Cunliffe assisted on Thompson’s second goal, sending a corner kick into the middle of the box for Thompson to put away.
Thompson now leads the Cardinals with five goals this season.
Up 1-0 thanks to Thompson, Permian Basin (2-7-1, 0-5) responded with three goals by Raul Lopez – two in the first half, one in the second – before UIW was able to get back on the scoreboard.
In the 69th minute, captain Michael Terrell was given a penalty kick opportunity after an Incarnate Word player was fouled in the Falcons’ goal area on a corner kick. Terrell put away the chance to narrow the UTPB lead to 3-2.
Then, in the 89th minute, defender Jonathan Barbarin got his foot on a crossing ball that was bouncing around and scored the equalizer for his first goal of the season to send the contest into overtime.
In the extra period, UIW recorded two shots on-goal while Permian Basin was unable to generate a scoring chance. The second of those shots was the game-winner by Thompson.
It was a successful weekend for the Cardinals, who come back to UIW with a two-game winning streak and a sudden ability to put balls into the back of the opponent’s net. Prior to this weekend, UIW was on the short end of an 8-to-9 scoring differential in nine games. Now, UIW is outscoring opponents 19-to12 on the year.
The scoring momentum and winning streak comes at a good time for the Cardinals, who return home on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against rival St. Mary’s University. STMU is 4-5-1 on the season and 2-1-1 in the conference, having defeated Permian Basin, 2-0, and Texas A&M International, 2-1 in overtime.
The Rattlers lost to Newman University, 3-2 – a team that the Cardinals crushed 7-0 this past Friday.