ST. CHARLES, MO. – The Ouachita men's soccer team had a heartbreaking week on the pitch, losing to both Harding and Lindenwood by a single goal in each contest.

On Tuesday evening, Ouachita and Harding battled it out to see who would host the Great American Conference Tournament. Earlier in the season the Tigers defeated the Bisons 4-0 at Kluck Stadium. Ouachita controlled the game earlier, out shooting the Bisons 9-5 in the opening half of play. Tiger goalkeeper Matt Gutierrez (Houston, Texas) only had to make one save in the half.

In the second half, however, Harding's Christian Ramos ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the upper left corner of the net. The goal was all Harding needed as the Tigers tried their best to get the ball into the back of the net. Despite out shooting the Bisons 15-12, the Tigers came up short falling 1-0 to there in-state rivals.

On Friday afternoon the Tigers found themselves in a shootout with Lindenwood as seven goals were scored between the two squads. In the 9^th minute of play the Lions converted a penalty kick to take an early 1-0 lead. Five minutes later and Abraham Lazo (Irving, Texas) scored the equalizer from 25-yards out. In the 19^th minute of action Kyle Weinrich gave Lindenwood the lead back after scoring off a deflection from a Tiger defender. With 8 seconds remaining in the half the Lions added another goal to give them a 3-1 advantage going into halftime.

Lindenwood outshot Ouachita 14-4 in the opening half. The Tiger defense clamped down however in the second half and only allowed the Lions to make seven shots. Gaspar Alvarez scored his ninth goal of the season to extend the Lindenwood lead to three goals. Thirty seconds later and Lazo had scored his second goal of the day for the Tigers. Colten Clark (Coppell, Texas) added a goal in the 63^rd minute of action to bring the Tigers within a goal.

Ouachita kept the pressure on and took numerous shots, but were unable to find the back of the net. In the 84^th minute Clark took a shot that had a chance of going in but it was saved by the Lindenwood goalie. The Tigers last offensive push in the half was called offsides as the clock ran out on the Ouachita comeback.

The Tiger soccer team will have a week off before they travel back up to Searcy to play in the Great American Conference Tournament. The Tigers will play the three seed Southern Nazarene at 4 p.m. For all the latest news regarding Ouachita soccer, stay tuned to obutigers.com.