The circumstances looked all too familiar for Allen Community College’s soccer team Wednesday.
The Red Devils held a one-goal lead in the second half, a circumstance that normally would be cause for celebration.
But not for Allen, which had lost a second-half lead in four of its last five games, the only exception being a 4-2 loss at Barton Saturday.
Enter Brett Rex, ACC sophomore, who scored on a header off a corner kick from teammate Oscar Marrufo early in the second half.
The Red Devils tacked on a goal five minutes later from Erick Rivera to push the lead to 3-0.
Pratt responded.
Manuel Miranda-Cortez’s goal with more than 32 minutes left in regulation cut the gap to 3-1, and briefly “caused us to revert back to ‘freakout’ mode,” Red Devil head coach Doug Desmarteau said.
Allen regained control down the stretch in their 3-1 win.
The victory lifts ACC to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in Jayhawk Conference and Region VI play.
“I was happy with how we were able to get back in control when they were pressing,” Desmarteau said. “We really did a nice job of maintaining possession down the stretch.”
Allen missed on a number of early scoring opportunities, Rivera in particular. He came up empty on three first-half shots, one narrowly missing to the left, another to the right. A third shot at the heart of the goal was snared by the Pratt goalkeeper.
The Red Devils were scoreless until the 42nd minute, when Corey Hudson punched a corner kick rebound into the net.
Chase Tonkin kept Pratt at bay with five saves on the afternoon.
Allen played without the services of midfielder Neil Jantzen because of injury, while midfielder and forward Dominic Nwagwa was limited with a foot injury.
“We was in a walking boot Monday, but he gutted it out,” Desmarteau said.
Allen resumes play in a non-region game Friday against Northern Oklahoma College.
“We’ll probably play a lot of guys who haven’t seen much playing time recently,” Desmarteau said. “We want to be ready for when we resume Region VI play.”
ACC men prevail
