CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State men's soccer team saw its postseason hopes end in the regular season finale in a 3-2 loss on Senior Day to Texas A&M International on Saturday (Oct. 27) at Soldier Field.
 
The Dustdevils (8-6-2, 7-6-1 Heartland Conference) rallied in the final 18 minutes to get the 3-2 victory. Trailing 2-1 late, TAMIU evened the game at 2-2 on a penalty kick goal by Ruben Nielsen. The Dustdevils were awarded the PK after a foul in the box by the navy and red.
 
The game winner for TAMIU came in the 82nd minute with a goal by Abraham Salazar after a cross from Nielsen for a 3-2 score.
 
After the Dustdevils tallied the opening goal of the game in the ninth minute, junior Chris Sowder posted back-to-back goals for RSU to give the host Hillcats a 2-1 lead on senior day.
 
Sowder started the scoring in the 28th minute when he tapped in a cross from Cairo Allen for a 1-1 score. The junior made it a brace in the 65th minute with a goal right in front of the goal after a pass in from Pedro Garcia. With the two goals, Sowder finished the season with a team-high nine.
 
In a physical game, the Hillcats were given three red cards in the final 18 minutes to conclude the contest with only eight players on the field. TAMIU went up a man in the 73rd minute after a second yellow on Callum Hubble. Two straight reds in the final nine minutes of the games were awarded to the navy and red. The two teams finished with 31 combined fouls.
 
For the game, RSU tallied 11 shots and seven shots on goal. Visiting TAMIU posted 19 shots with 12 on goal.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Jazz Dhaliwal made a career-high nine saves in 90 minutes.
 
Five Hillcat seniors were recognized before the contest: Kevin Kwarteng, Noah Robson, Ellis Ashworth, Jeremy Hoelzer and Abe Young. All five seniors started in the final game for the navy and red.
 
The Hillcats finished the 2018 season at 8-8-2 and 6-6-2 in the Heartland Conference.