RICHARDSON, TX (09.25.21) - Youngsters Riley O'Donnell and Brandon Buchanan each recorded a pair of goals Saturday night as the UT Dallas men's soccer team capped off a successful opening weekend of American Southwest Conference play with a 4-0 shutout over Howard Payne in front of the home crowd.

O'Donnell, a true freshman from Lovejoy High School, scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season early 9 in the contest, then doubled the Comet lead with another tally 10 minutes into the second half to lead the way to UTD's fourth straight win and third straight shutout (fifth of the season). Second-year forward Buchanan, who assisted on O'Donnell's second goal, then tacked on a successful penalty kick and scored his second goal of the year 10 minutes later to finish out the scoring.

The Comets (6-2-1 overall) improved to 2-0 in conference play with a tough weekend road trip ahead next week against Concordia Texas and Mary Hardin-Baylor. Howard Payne (2-6-1) fell for the second time in the opening weekend of ASC play.

O'Donnell's first goal came off a long pass from Adrian Vasquez down the far side that the freshman rocketed past a diving HPU keeper on a sharp angle into the right corner at the 7:37 mark. Then, 10:47 into the second half, he found net on the left side, redirecting a nice cross serve from Buchanan.

Eight minutes later, Buchanan stole a Yellow Jacket pass and was tackled inside the penalty area as he charged the net. He got redemption with a successful penalty kick to make it 3-0. At the 73:01 mark, he was able to pick off another pass near the goal and scored on the lower left side for the final tally.

UTD outshot HPU, 18-6, putting 10 shots on frame. Comet goalkeepers Trey Nickel and Eric LaClare stopped five Yellow Jacket scoring attempts. O'Donnell led the Comets with seven shots while Buchanan and Kane Kidwell each had three shots.