The University of St. Thomas women's soccer team rounded out their last road trip of the regular season this Saturday with a 4-2 win against the Huston-Tillotson Rams. Despite a very early kick-off time, the Celts started the match with high intensity both on offense and the defensive side.
Aeriana Lewis (FR/Houston, TX) had the first goal of the half with a long strike over the Rams goalkeeper in the early minutes, and the Celts held this 1-0 lead through the first half. Celts held a 5-1 advantage in shots and more importantly had control of the possession.
The second half started with Rams Samantha Boden scoring an equalizer goal that gave Huston-Tillotson University hope. It didn't take long for Celts to regain the lead, despite missing the penalty kick. Torri Dunn (FR/Keller, TX) answered quickly with a beautiful lofted shot from outside right corner of the 18-yard box off of an assist by Siobhan Higgins (SR/Katy, TX). Dunn's goal seemed to galvanize the team as midfielder Rachael Bell (SR/Houston, TX) slid the diagonal pass towards the Rams goal to Alexa Noyola (SR/Houston, TX) who didn't hesitate and put UST up 3-1.
Katarina Maksimov (JR/Richmond, TX) had two good chances in the second half connecting well with Higgins from the midfield, but Rams goalkeeper Molinar stood up to the task.
Celt's fourth goal was scored by Courtlyn Boxie (SO/Houston, TX), heading the ball into the net after a nifty assist by Noyola. Despite missing another penalty kick, and a late goal by the Rams, Celts were able to end the match with an ever-important 4-2 win.
Goalkeeper Jordan Thompson (SR/Spring, TX) finished the night with four saves, and Celts stingy defensive trio held Ram's top performer Cuevas scoreless for the night. The University of St. Thomas women's soccer team has clinched the berth to the 2018 RRAC Women's Soccer Tournament, and two games before the end of the regular season sit on top of the table.
"Everything started with us defending as a team, not only from our goalkeeper and three central defenders Escobar, Wright, and Zimmer - but every single player. We did risk a bit playing more offensive, but I knew our players would embrace it, and on the other side, we also played some beautiful soccer. Although we are not pleased with conceding two goals, I am delighted with the result, our performance over 90 minutes and our trend in performing better and rising to the occasion as the season progresses," said Coach Nikola Barjaktarevic. "Last two games are crucial, and we need to stay focused against very dangerous Wiley College and TAMUT - the team we played in finals of the tournament last year."
The Celts move to 8-0-1 in the RRAC and face Wiley College on Thursday, October 25 @ 5 pm at San Jacinto College South Campus (Kick Cancer game), as well as Texas A&M-Texarkana on Saturday, October 27 @ 5:30 pm at Houston Sports Park (Senior Night) in the last weekend of conference play.
