Southwestern women's soccer gained their first win of the season last Friday against the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs.
Both teams came into the game searching for a first victory, the Bulldogs were on a four-game losing streak, hoping to right the ship in the first conference game. The Pirates, with a pair of draws and a loss early in the season needed to string pieces together in order to get the offensive production they knew they had.
The energy of both teams lacked in the first half as it appeared each squad was waiting for the other to make the first move. While the ball stayed in the middle of the field for both teams in the beginning, the Pirates were able to move the ball into their attacking third, setting up shot and corner opportunities later on in the half. Tough defense from the Bulldogs led both teams to go into the half 0-0.
Coming out of halftime each time showed more pace, especially the Bulldogs on their offensive end. Putting more stress on the Pirate defense, the Bulldogs drew a foul from Southwestern which gave them a free kick from outside the box. Samantha Martinez of the Bulldogs hit a rocket off the free kick and scored the first goal of the game in the 53' minute. Content with the goal, the Bulldogs slowed down on offense, attempting to run out the time on the clock. This gave the Pirates the chance to jab at the TLU defense.
Southwestern finally found the slightest of openings, Karlee Holmes fired a kick from outside the box towards the TLU goal, the ball landed in front of the far post where a running Breana Trevino was there to head the ball off the bounce and into the goal. Trevino's goal tied the game at 1-1 in the 70' minute.
Wasting no time after the goal, the Pirates were back on the attack again. This time the pirates drew a handball on the Bulldogs inside the box, giving the Pirates a penalty kick opportunity. Junior defender Kate Nguyen was elected to take the penalty kick. Nguyen converted on her chance, shooting the ball to the left side of the goal and past the Bulldogs goalkeeper, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead in the 73' minute.
The Pirates were able to ride out the lead for their first victory of the 2022 season.
On Sunday, the Pirates took on the East Texas Baptist Tigers. Sunday was an important day for women's soccer as the team looked forward to celebrating their 2021 Regular Season Championship with a ring ceremony after the game. The pressure was on the Pirates to get a good result, if that wasn't enough, the team would be trying to avenge their only loss of the 2021 regular season, which came against ETBU.
Unlike their game against TLU, the Pirates and Tigers came out with electric pace. The combination of Samantha Hazen and Abrianna Morales opened up the scoring for the Pirates in the 11' minute. Hazen, who led the Pirates in goals last year, showed her ability to be an effective distributor of the ball. Using her speed Hazen got space from her defender, crossed a perfect ball to her teammate, and all Morales had to do was tap it in for the score.
The score at 1-0, the Tigers would answer right back in the 20' minute, tying the game at 1-1. Later on, in the 30' minute, Hazen replicated her previous assist, beating her defender but using her space to put another cross towards the middle of the field. A waiting Meredith Lannan knocked the ball in for the score to put the Pirates up 2-1.
In the second half, two miraculous goals scored by the Tigers gave them a 3-2 lead by the 60' minute. Hazen, who already had a tremendous game passing the ball, put the game in her hands yet again. Hazen hit a long arcing pass from the midfield into the box where Juliet Prdigen sacrificed her head to put the ball in the back of the net for Southwestern, tying the game at 3-3.
The game would end in a 3-3 tie, and although the Pirates would have liked to come away with a win, the fans at Varsity Field were treated to an exciting game of soccer and the chance to celebrate their championship team afterward.
The Pirates will be back in action against the Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders in Belton, Texas on Wednesday, September 21st at 7:00 PM.
Photo by Carlos Barron