The University of the Incarnate Word women's soccer team returned home to Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium on Friday night for a Lone Star Conference match against winless Texas Woman's University. The Cardinals, having tied Abilene Christian last Friday (1-1) and losing to Midwestern State last Sunday (4-0) were in-need of a victory to both get them back in the win column (overall and in the LSC) and to get the team back to its winning ways.
When the final whistle sounded, UIW had defeated the Pioneers, 2-1 – but only because of some late heroics on behalf of the Cardinals.
Incarnate Word (3-1-2 overall) struggled for most of the game, always seeming to be a half step late or passing balls a foot or two off from where they needed to be and fell behind 1-0 in the 62nd minute of the game.
The team needed something positive to happen and that feeling grew as the clock ticked away. With just over eight minutes left in the contest, freshman Sarah Johnson battled her way down the sideline and sent a beautiful crossing pass to the far side of the TWU goal. Trailing the play was teammate Angelica Carrizales who timed her run perfectly and headed the ball in to tie things up at 1-1.
The sideline cheered, but UIW still had work to do before the clock read 00:00 – fighting off attacks by Texas Woman's University and trying to piece together another scoring opportunity.
That chance came with 88:46 on the clock.
Sophomore Amber Guenther was just outside the penalty area and trying to shake a defender on her back. The two players got tangled and the whistle blew in Incarnate Word's favor – giving UIW a free kick chance roughly 20 yards away from the goal.
TWU's defense set up a long wall – essentially any player besides the goalkeeper who wasn't defending a UIW player – and Guenther waited for the ref's whistle. She stepped into the ball and placed it low and fast to the far side of the goal.
Initially, the ball looked to be headed right for the TWU wall of defenders – yet it passed through the sea of legs and snuck past the outstretched hand of the goalkeeper to put Incarnate Word up 2-1 with just over a minute left to play.
The sideline exploded and the Cardinals had to fend off a few attempts to connect on some long passes by Texas Woman's – but ultimately, it didn't matter and the Cardinals won the game.
Head coach Tina Patterson said that she hoped the team would be able to use the victory – even if it was an ugly one – to get some momentum going.
“You take whatever you can get,” she said after the game. “Sometimes when things just aren't going well and you can still find a way to win, it really helps a team get focused and back on track.”
UIW hosts Texas A&M-Commerce at noon on Sunday.
