ABILENE – A dominant effort on both sides of the ball carried the Abilene Christian soccer team to a convincing 4-0 victory over Incarnate Word in its 2015 season finale Thursday night at Elmer Gray Stadium.
The win was the Wildcats' sixth over their last eight matches, giving them a final record of 8-8-3 following a 1-6-2 start in which they played the very best teams throughout Texas. ACU also tied a program record from 2013 for most wins in a Southland Conference season at 7-2-2, a mark that puts the Wildcats two points ahead of Houston Baptist for second place. The Wildcats will remain in second place unless the Huskies defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday night in Houston.
Rivals from their days in the Lone Star Conference, ACU and UIW always have played close matches and it wasn't until 2013 that the Wildcats were able to score more than twice during their nine-match series, which they now lead 5-3-2. Last season the teams tied at 1-1 in San Antonio, but tonight belonged to the Wildcats for all 90 minutes as they outshot the Cardinals 26-3 and scored the most goals in series history with four.
In the early stages of tonight's match it appeared as if goals were going to be hard to come by as the Wildcats' missed wide on a penalty kick in the ninth minute and UIW goalkeeper Sydney Huntsinger made a couple saves vs.
Lindsey Jones,
Danielle Otto and
Natalie Throneberry.
But the shots kept coming for the Wildcats, and they finally hit paydirt in the 30th minute when freshman striker
Dylan Owens tracked down a lob pass from Otto at center back near the top of the 18-yard box, ran all the way down to the end line before shoveling a right-footed shot past a defender and Huntsinger at the near post.
The goal was Owens' sixth of the season and gave the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year candidate the team lead with 18 points.
ACU continued to press the remainder of the half, tallying three additional shots, and later received a big insurance goal from rookie
Sophie Standifer 11 minutes into the second half.
Outside backs
Peyton Bucklew and
Alyssa Gerner set up Standifer's goal. Bucklew had the ball on the far side of the field before tapping it back through the circle, where it found Gerner, who then quickly flipped in forward to Standifer after sensing pressure from a UIW forward.
Standifer raced straight ahead into the penalty area after collecting the ball on ACU's half of the midfield stripe, challenging three defenders in front of her and another approaching from behind. Then after dodging a bit to her right side, she found enough room to fire a 10-yard strike inside the far post for goal No. 6 on the season, tying Owens for the team lead.
The Wildcats eventually put the match out of reach in the 70th minute on a corner kick goal courtesy of
Chloe Fifer and
Maria Gomez. Fifer nearly scored on the preceding play, taking a pass from
Megan Baer along the 18-yard line and firing the ball right at Huntsinger, who made a terrific diving stop with an assist from the crossbar.
Gomez' corner was one of six for ACU tonight and squarely landed inside the goalmouth near the far post, giving Fifer an easy finish for her second goal of the fall.
ACU's final goal came on a penalty kick by senior
Rachel Shedd in the 89th minute after a UIW defender tripped Owens from behind. Shedd's goal came on the very first and last shot of her Wildcat career. The Chandler, Ariz., native transferred to ACU as a sophomore in 2013 from Colorado College.
Senior
Nicci Nelson tonight played 36 minutes off the bench and fired a shot that ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar in the 86th minute, while Jones, competing in the final match of her collegiate career, led all players with eight shots.
The three shots allowed by the ACU defense tonight were the fewest since surrendering three at Drury early in the 2013 season. The program single-match record of zero shots allowed took place in 2012 vs. Our Lady of the Lake.
Junior
Sydney Newton and freshman
Madeline Grimes combined for the shutout on two saves. Grimes played the final 12:02 of the match and did not face a single shot.
