Women's Soccer | 10/21/2015 12:10:00 PM
Tickets | Live Stats vs. Stephen F. Austin | VideoTickets | Live Stats vs. Sam Houston State | Video ABILENE – Every match is a must win here on out for Abilene Christian soccer which begins a season-ending, three-match homestand in second place one point behind Friday's opponent Stephen F. Austin. Kick off between the Wildcats and Ladyjacks is at 7 p.m.
Friday's and Sunday's matches will be offer live stats and a video stream.
ACU (7-7-2, 6-1-1 SLC) needs a win over SFA (7-6-2, 6-0-2 SLC) to move into first place. A tie keeps the Wildcats a point behind the defending regular-season champions, while a loss could drop them into third if combined with a Houston Baptist victory. The Huskies, who won last year's Southland Conference Championship Tournament, are right behind SFA and ACU with 18 points and will end their year with three-straight home matches vs. Lamar, McNeese and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The remaining opposition for ACU and SFA are identical. The Ladyjacks will face Incarnate Word Sunday after playing here, and close the season against their archrivals from Sam Houston State a week from Friday. The Wildcats battle the Bearkats Sunday at 1 p.m. at Elmer Gray, and play host to UIW in the season finale on Oct. 30.
Should the Wildcats win out, the Southland Conference will recognize them as its regular season champions even though they won't be allowed into any postseason tournament due to the ongoing NCAA DI transition process.
ACU returns home on a major hot streak, winners of its last five matches with three of those coming on the road. The Wildcats pulled off a minor upset of the Huskies two weeks ago in Houston, and returned that direction last weekend to beat Lamar, 6-2, and McNeese, 3-2, in double overtime.
The six goals against the Cardinals were the most scored by ACU in any conference match (Lone Star or Southland) and the second-highest single-match total since the program's inception in 2007. Two days later at McNeese the Wildcats appeared well on their way to claiming their first-ever victory over the Cowgirls, but the home team put back two shots in the final two minutes with the game-tying goal coming with five seconds left in regulation.
Luckily, the Wildcats staved off the Cowgirls through the first overtime and then benefitted from a McNeese handball in the goal box that resulted in
Maria Gomez' game-winning penalty kick. Gomez now has scored three times over the last three matches.
This memorable victory served as the 100th collegiate win for head coach
Casey Wilson.
ACU received nine goals last weekend from eight different players. Freshman
Sophie Standifer scored twice, while rookie
Dylan Owens led all Wildcats with five points on a goal and three assists.
Owens is tied for third in the Southland (conference-matches only) with 13 points, while Gomez and senior
Lindsey Jones are tied for ninth with eight apiece. The Willard, Mo., native also ranks first with five assists.
SFA is the only league team ACU has yet to defeat or score against during two seasons in the Southland. The Ladyjacks blanked the Wildcats in Nacogdoches, Texas, 2-0, in 2013, and held on for a 1-0 win last fall at Shotwell Stadium.
The Wildcats are undefeated vs. Sam Houston State but both matches have been incredibly close, winning by scores of 2-1 and 3-2.
