Texas State Soccer Clinches Sun Belt Tournament Berth; Extends Shutout and Winning Streaks at ULM
MONROE, La. – After missing out last year, the Texas State soccer team become the first Sun Belt Conference program to clinch a berth in the conference's tournament this season after defeating ULM 3-0 Friday evening at the ULM Soccer Complex. The victory extended the Bobcats' shutout and winning streak to five matches with the shutout mark tying the program record set in 2001.
Texas State improves to 8-4-1 overall and are 6-1-0 in the Sun Belt to guarantee at least a share of the first place in the conference standings heading into Sunday's match. The Warhawks drop to 2-12-1 on the season and 2-5-0 in the SBC.
Rachel Grout nearly put the Bobcats in front early in the seventh minute when she had an open look at the net following a pass that drew the goalkeeper out. Unfortunately for her a ULM defender got back in time to clear her attempt on goal away.
Late in the ninth minute, Brooke Ramsey sent in a corner kick from the right side. The ball bounced past a defender and to Holly Streber. The freshman defender toe tapped the ball to Kassi Hormuth, who buried a shot into the lower right corner for the opening goal of the match.
Grout scored for the first time in the contest early in the 17 minute. It began with Hormuth passing the ball back to Jamie Brown after a failed clearance ULM. The junior sent a high, towering ball into the box that bounced over a Bobcat and Warhawk player right to Grout on the back post. She then knocked the ball into the open net to extend the lead to 2-0.
With a second left in the 38 minute, Grout tallied her second goal of the match and team leading seventh of the season. Renny Moore sent in a cross that hit off a defender right to Grout. The Dallas native followed by ripping a shot by the ULM goalkeeper for the final score of the match.
The second half saw the Bobcats attempt five shots and place three on goal that were all stopped. Overall, TXST outshot the Warhawks 16-3 and led 6-1 in corner kicks.
Hormuth led all players with a match and season-high five shots. The Cedar Park, Texas native also extended her point streak to five matches. She tallied
Grout added four shots and saw her goal scoring streak reach three contests in-a-row. Kira Zapalac was the only other Bobcat to attempt multiple shots with three, tying a season best that she set at Coastal Carolina.
In goal, Heather Martin made a save to record her fifth consecutive shutout. Her GAA dropped to 0.67 and her save percentage increased to .846 on the year.
The Bobcats concluded their weekend road trip on Sunday at Little Rock. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
For more information on the Texas State soccer team, visit the official website of Texas State Athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, like on Facebook at Texas State Soccer and follow on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateSoccer.
Garuba, Smocovich Pace Trojans Past Mountaineers, 3-1
LITTLE ROCK – Fali Garuba notched the equalizer goal with six seconds remaining in the opening half, then Morgan Smocovich struck twice in the second to lead Little Rock to a 3-1 win over Appalachian State.
The victory keeps the Trojans unbeaten at home this season at 7-0-2 as Little Rock improves to 7-6-2 overall and 2-2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Trojans picked up three crucial points in the conference standings, giving them eight and putting them in the driver's seat jostling for the final conference tournament spot.
Appalachian State would strike first, however, as the Mountaineers opened up the contest with a rocket shot ten yards outside the box from Lindsey Tully to put the Mountaineers up 1-0 in the 25th minute.
After numerous chances by the Trojans, Little Rock finally found the back of the net in the waning seconds of the opening half as Claire Palmer floated a ball to the back post towards Garuba, who fought her way through the defender to head the ball in the bottom left netting to even the score at 1-1 going into the break. The tally from Garuba ended a nearly 270-minute scoreless drought for the Trojans, dating back to the 2-1 win over ULM on September 29.
Little Rock would take that momentum into the second half as Morgan Smocovich was given an abundant amount of open field to dribble at the defense and from outside the box fired a shot towards the left upper corner, beating the keeper to put the Trojans up 2-1 in the 49th minute.
But Smocovich was not done. In a near identical situation minutes later, Smocovich would beat a defender in the same area and rip another shot into the upper left corner to give Little Rock the 3-1 in the 62nd minute
The Mountaineers would muster up all they could to put in another goal but the Trojan defense would hold strong and seal the victory at 3-1.
Little Rock was outshot 12-11 on the night, despite holding a 7-4 shot advantage in the first half. Both teams finished with three corner kicks on the night, taking all of them in their respective halves, with the Trojans whistled for 12 fouls to nine for the Mountaineers.
Defensively, Kate Hamilton's 291-minute goaless streak was ended after the early goal, but would prove resilient making four saves on the contest and improving to 3-0-1 on the year.
Little Rock returns to action on Sunday for their final home game of the year, hosting Sun Belt Conference leader Texas State. Kick-off time is set for 1 p.m. at the Coleman Sports Complex.
Red Wolves Soccer Knocks Off First-Place Jaguars
MOBILE, Ala. (10/13/17) – The Arkansas State women’s soccer team knocked off the first-place South Alabama Jaguars with a 1-0 victory Friday evening at The Cage.
It was the first loss of the season for the Jaguars in conference play and vaulted the Red Wolves into the top-half of the league standings with just two matches to go on its regular season schedule.
The match was delayed for 2:15 due to a weather system that moved through the Mobile area and created a difficult surface to play on. Despite the challenge, the Red Wolves (8-5-1, 4-3-1) scored the only match of the goal in the 46th minute when Hailey Furio buried a shot low to the ground from close range.
The shot was setup by a quick shot off the second half restart from Sarah Sodoma who had her attempt knocked away by the Jaguars (7-5-1, 5-1), but the rebound found Furio, who gave A-State the only goal it would need.
“I think this team knew we had a since of urgency,” A-State head coach Brian Dooley said. “We gave away some points early in the season and it put us in a position to where we have to go and get points against some opponents where that has traditionally been a very tough thing. The conditions weren’t great, but the girls mentally made sure they stayed in the game and didn’t make the type of mistakes that will cost you.”
After the goal, South Alabama went to the attack on the offensive end and came close to tying the match in the 85th minute when Charde Hannah hit the crossbar on a shot from distance. It was one of 33 shots for the Jaguars on the night.
In goal Kelsey Ponder withstood the barrage of shots and made a season-high 13 saves. The total is also tied for the fourth most in school history. One of her biggest saves came immediately after the attempt by Hannah when Rio Hardy collected the rebound and sent in on Ponder. She also made a pair of saves in the 88th and 89th minutes as South Alabama searched for the equalizer.
“Ponder played a perfect game in goal,” Dooley Said. “You could not have asked for anything better in the type of conditions we were playing in. We knew that after we scored they would go on the attack and Ponder and that defense did an excellent job of withstanding that pressure and not giving up too much.”
Arkansas State had an opportunity to stretch its lead to two goals in the 64th minute when Maggie Ertl had an attempt stopped by Justice Stanford.
“We have a very young team but we play like we are old and that has only continued to evolve as the season has gone on,” Dooley said. “Not having (Taylor) Schneider was tough in the middle, and tonight was the type of game that was made for her, but Bailey Reed was a monster for us and probably played her best game of the season. We just made the plays when we had to and it wasn’t pretty by any stretch but it got the job done.”
The Red Wolves return to the field Sunday, Oct. 15 for a conference matchup at Louisiana-Monroe. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
For the latest on the A-State women’s soccer, log onto the team’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateSoccer and follow them on Twitter @AStateSoccer.