SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word women's soccer team played Southland Conference rival Abilene Christian University to a 1-1 tie on Sunday afternoon at Benson Stadium.
The Cardinals (1-11-2, 1-4-2) started with the kick-off and controlled the game for the first several minutes. Once the Wildcats (7-7-2, 4-2-2) started to push up the field, they earned several scoring opportunities off corner kicks. In the 17
th minute, ACU put the first goal on the board when Taylor Brown received a through ball from Sarah Schoch just outside the box and finished the shot past UIW goalkeeper
Heather Kowalik (Boerne/Champion HS).
The 1-0 lead held up for the Wildcats until late in the first half. UIW continued to play hard into the end of the first half when
Megan Baker (Pflugerville/Hendrickson HS) received the ball near the top of the circle and she found
Jazma Latu (San Antonio/Johnson HS) open for a one-on-one opportunity which she finished to her right post in the 41
st minute. It was Latu's second goal of the season. The first half ended with the score locked at 1-1.
The teams played aggressively throughout the match. Abilene Christian's Leslie Snider and Maria Gomez were each booked with yellow cards and the team had a total of 17 fouls. UIW defender
Mikaela Noriega (Helotes/Brandeis HS), midfielder
Amanda Watkins (San Antonio/Brandeis HS, and Latu were tagged with yellow cards, in addition to the team's total ten fouls.
Both teams fought but could not finish a goal in regulation time. Abilene Christian's Maria Gomez came off the bench toward the end to pressure Kowalik by taking four shots. In overtime, ACU took five shots while the Cardinals only found one opportunity from
Abigail Koenigs (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) that was a few inches high. The Wildcats finished the match with 18 total shots in comparison to UIW's six.
"I'm really proud of the we battled to get a result today," said UIW head coach
Anne Felts. "Our seniors have really stepped up in a big way at the right time of the season.
Jazma Latu really provides a huge spark for us coming off the bench. She gets the team to rally around her scrappy play and it gives us a boost of confidence."
Kowalik had a strong game in goal for UIW finishing with five saves, including critical saves in the second half and overtime. Her ACU counterpart, Sydney Newton, was credited with three saves. Both players were on the field for the entire game.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Friday against McNeese State at 5:30 PM and again on Sunday against the Lamar Cardinals at 12:00 PM at Benson Stadium.
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