Seeded as the fourth team in the 2010 Lone Star Conference Women's Soccer Championship, the University of the Incarnate Word suffered a 3-1 loss to University of Central Oklahoma and saw their season come to an end.
The first-round tournament game was played in Wichita Falls at the Midwestern State Soccer Field on a bright, yet windy day.
Incarnate Word (9-7-2 overall record in its first season as a member of the Lone Star Conference) fell behind 1-0 almost 20 minutes into the game when a shot by UCO's Summer Grantham found the high left corner of the UIW goal to beat Toru Puentes.
The Cardinals regrouped and both teams took turns getting chances on-goal until senior forward Sarah Hernandez got a long pass from freshman Leslie Smith just outside the penalty area. That pass allowed Hernandez to get enough separation from the UCO defense to take a setup dribble and bury a shot low to know the score at 1-1 with about 8 minutes to play in the first half.
After the intermission, the teams continued to exchange offensive surges without changing the numbers on the scoreboard until midway through the second half when Stephanie Fleig of Central Oklahoma dribbled and cut through the middle of the Cardinal defense and set up her teammate Ashton Morris on the left side of the goal.
Morris slipped her shot past a charging Puentes and gave UCO the 2-1 lead in the 71st minute, but the Bronchos weren't finished there and added another goal in the 77th when what appeared to be a simple, long pass into the goal went bouncing into the net as the Cardinal defense failed to react until the ball was past the goalkeeper.
This marks the second straight season that UIW has lost in its first post-season game. Last year the Cardinals were hosting the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament and earned a first-round bye before losing to St. Edward's University, 1-0.
UIW will graduate six seniors from this year's team – Sarah Hernandez, Emily Hernandez, Lauren Evans, Cassidy Ballantyne, Keri Dawson and Brittany Schrader – but benefited from the large number of minutes and deep bench this season as five of the top ten point-getters on the team were either freshmen or sophomores.
The Hernandez sisters will leave the program having had a tremendous impact on the team dating back to their freshmen years.
Sarah leaves the team ranked No. 3 all-time in points with 125 and in goals with 54 (she has 17 career assists). Emily finishes as tied for 13th all-time in points with Lianah Flores with 54 points, scoring 18 goals and 18 assists over four years. Both have won numerous Heartland Conference, NSCAA, and NCAA awards.
Evans ends her career with 32 career points (scoring 1 goal and 1 assist her senior year for 12 goals and 12 assists overall), tying her with Madeline Vasquez for 23rd all-time.
Ballantyne and Dawson, two defensive mainstays for head coach Tina Patterson for four years, have 76 and 77 games started, respectively, over their careers and numerous awards between the two of them.
Schrader leaves the program having competed in 56 games.
Central Oklahoma will face No. 1-seeded Midwestern State on Friday night.
