ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Playing its third match in four days, the No. 14 Cobras soccer team passed its toughest test of the season so far with a 4-3 defeat of No. 7 St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Jesus Reina led the Cobras with two goals, including the game-winner in the 65^th minute.

Box Score | Season Stats

"One of the biggest wins in our program's history," said head coach Mark Sikora. "Anytime you can come out on top against a top-10 team, it's a great day, especially in this heat and at their place. Great effort put in by all players, especially the back line of Jaelen Jackson, Josh Hays, Christian Machina, Ethan Norton, Jakob Schoon and Vladimir Ortiz.  There was a tremendous amount of pressure on them all game, and they might have bent at times but never truly broke. Jesus Reyna, Yu Sasaki and Ivai Warella were busy up front all match and created our goals and best scoring opportunities, and Zach Gowlett put in a phenomenal shift. I'm very proud of the job the team pulled off today."

Holding a three-goal lead midway through the second half, the Cobras fought off multiple comeback attempts by the home team, as the Archers drew within one goal in the 72^nd minute. However, after having its lead cut to 4-3 with 18 minutes remaining, sophomore goalie Lorenzo Giaretti and the Parkland allowed just one shot and one corner kick to clinch the victory.

The Cobras struck the first blow in a defensive first half that saw just one goal scored by either side. After four shots were unsuccessful in the first 23 minutes, sophomore Yu Sasaki found freshman Naoto Uede for Uede's third goal of the season in the 24^th minutes. St. Louis would take four more shots in the final 20 minutes of the half, but were unable to level the score before halftime.

In the second half, both Parkland and St. Louis broke through with three goals between the two teams in the first 10 minutes out of the break. Sophomore forward Jesus Reina netted his first goal of the season off a pass from Zachary Gowlett in the 46^th minute to double the Cobras' lead. Although the Archers quickly responded three minutes later (48:44) with a goal on their first shot of the second half, Parkland answered in the 56^th minute (55:03) when freshman Josef Halcomb knocked home Gowlett's second assist of the match.

After nine minutes without a shot on goal from either team, Reina found the back of the net for the second time in the half (64:09) to give Parkland its biggest lead of the night.

However, the three-goal advantage lasted only forty seconds as St. Louis' James Harrison scored his second goal (64:49) of the night. Following seven more minutes that saw five yellow cards handed out and three St. Louis shots on goal, Harrison again scored (71:57) for the Archers off a penalty kick.

With the Archers threatening to complete the comeback, the Cobra defense hunkered down, only allowing one shot on goal during the remaining 18 minutes of play.  

Following three matches in four days, the Cobras will have five days off before returning to action next weekend at home. Parkland will host Ancilla at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 1, and then Hawkeye Community College at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 2.