Freshman Midfielder, Owen Thomas may have been the slightest player on the pitch Friday, but no Cougar roared louder than he did as he accounted for two CBC goals as they defeated the #3 ranked Apaches of Tyler Junior College 3-0.  Standing at 5'4" he played a huge roll in the landmark win for the boys in Cougar Blue.  It marks the first time in program history that CBC has knocked off two nationally ranked opponents in the same season. 

At the midpoint of the first-half, Gabriel Campora drove up the left sideline through two Apache defenders, turned the corner towards the goal, only to be taken to the ground by two more Tyler players, but before went down he rolled the ball to Thomas who was trailing Campora.  Thomas put it away just inside the left post.  That single goal would be all that Harry Scott and the defense would need as he went the distance for his second win at goalie over a national ranked opponent this season.  Thomas again found the back of the net in the second half in the 65th minute.  Owen Thomas was the wasn't the only Thomas to get into the action, as fellow countryman and freshman Thomas Williams found pay dirt in the 73rd minute to put the game out of reach.  

The victory was bittersweet for the Cougars.  Before the game - their first at Cougar Field this season - they paid respects to Joe Aspinall.  Aspinall a freshman centerback from Huddersfield, England played in 12 games for the Cougars, starting five.  He recorded three shots on goal was a member of the team during the 2019 season, but passed suddenly from a brief battle with cancer in summer of 2020.  The lads drew much inspiration from a life size portrait of Joe which was near their bench for the game.

This marks the second time that Soccer has beaten a highly ranked squad from Tyler.  The last time coming in September 2017 when they knocked off the Apaches who were ranked number one at the time.

The Cougars will be be on the road for the next few days as they travel to take Jacksonville College and nationally ranked LSU-Eunice.  Their next home game will be a non-conference friendly versus Western Texas College on April 23rd at 1:00 pm.