ABILENE – Off to its most successful start since 2011 at 5-0-1, the Abilene Christian soccer team will look to finish the non-conference portion of its schedule with an unbeaten mark Saturday when the Wildcats visit Wayland Baptist for a noon match that will be live streamed via
wbuathletics.com.
WBU – a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference – is the third and final NAIA school on ACU's schedule. Earlier this season, the Wildcats defeated Oklahoma City, 3-2, UT-Brownsville, 1-0, and John Brown, 5-0, to run their all-time record vs. NAIA schools to 9-0.
ACU also has a tie this year vs. UTEP of Conference USA and consecutive wins over former NCAA D-II rivals Drury and Midwestern State. The Wildcats defeated the Mustangs, 1-0, Tuesday night for their sixth series' victory vs. MSU over the last nine meetings.
Wildcat junior
Emily Sumrall scored her second goal of the season in the 15th minute to make it 1-0, and that score stood up as the Wildcats' defense pitched its third shutout of the season. ACU, in fact, didn't even give up a shot on goal in 90 minutes of play and only allowed 12 total shots in the match. The shutout lowered ACU's goals-against average to 0.63, which is the fourth lowest among the 13 Southland Conference teams.
The freshman goalkeeping duo of
Kelsey Dombrowski and
Sydney Newton have combined to allow just four goals through 571 minutes of action, while only being force to make 18 saves – the third-lowest total in the league.
Senior forward
Andrea Carpenter continues to pace the Wildcats' offense as she is ranked first in the Southland in points with 15 and goals with six. The Amarillo native also ranks second to Nicholls' Spencer Valdespino (31) with 19 shots and is tied for fourth with three assists. Carpenter assisted on Sumrall's goal vs. the Mustangs and is just one assist shy of matching her season high of four (2010) in this category.
The Pioneers are off to a fine start at 4-1 with wins coming against Howard Payne, University of the Southwest, Huston-Tillotson and Lubbock Christian. Wayland Baptists' 2-0 win over the Lady Chaparrals on Tuesday night was a first for its women's soccer program.
Senior Emarie Holland leads the Pioneers with eight of their 12 goals coming on just 33 shots and 19 shots on goal. Four other WBU players are tied for second with one goal, while Jessica Bell has two assists.
Keri Myers has played the majority of minutes in goal and is 2-1 with a 1.43 GAA and 16 saves. Kasey Hayes has started two matches for the Pioneers and is 1-0 with one save through 135 minutes of play.
