Women's Soccer | 10/13/2016 11:35:00 AM
Lamar:
Live Stats |
Video
McNeese:
Live Stats |
Video
ABILENE - Abilene Christian soccer prepares to say farewell to its eight-member senior class this weekend as it plays host to its final home matches of the 2016 season against Lamar and McNeese. Kick off times are Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both games will be live streamed on
Stretch Internet with
Mary Kate Rotenberry handling play-by-play duties.
ACU's Class of 2016 won't go down as the most-decorated, however, their collective contributions in bridging the gap between the Wildcats' Division II and I eras should never be discounted.
Kelsey Dombrowski,
Alyssa Gerner,
Sydney Newton,
Danielle Otto,
Kelsie Roberts,
Kate Seay,
Leslie Snider and
Natalie Throneberry were promised no postseason glory during their recruitment, but by banding together to play for their school, their coaching staff, and one another they maintained ACU's winning cutlure.
This group certainly took its lumps during the non-conference season going up against the likes of SMU, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas and Texas Tech, but all those battles led straight into one successful conference campaign after another.
As freshmen in 2013, they provided a spark that carried the Wildcats to a 7-5 league record. Throneberry scored 11 points as a rookie on five goals, Gerner and Roberts played all but one match together along the back line, and the first-year goalkeepers Dombrowski and Newton combined for 13 victories and seven shutouts.
The following season, ACU added redshirts
Leslie Snider and
Kate Seay into the rotation. Seay appeared in 17 matches, primarily as a reserve, and scored her first career goal vs. Northwestern State in a 3-0 win. The next year she ranked among the team leaders in goals (4) and points (9) through just 579 minutes of play as the Wildcats remained in contention for the Southland Conference regular-season title until the final week, finishing with a league mark of 7-2-2.
Snider received Comeback Player of the Year honors from ACU's Sports Medicine Department following the 2014 season in which she scored eight points on three goals and two assists. Since then she's been a mainstay in the midfield.
Otto was the latest addition to this group, joining the team in 2015 following two years at Folsom Lake Community College. The California native hasn't missed a match since her arrival and has scored goals vs. both Houston Baptist and North Texas.
With at least one victory this weekend the Wildcats and their senior class will have clinched their fourth-consecutive winning conference season, but look for the Cardinals (1-11-2, 4-2 Southland) and Cowgirls (6-7, 2-4 Southland) to relish playing the role of spoiler. ACU is 2-1 all-time vs. the Cardinals with the last two victories coming by a combined score of 8-2, but it is 1-2 vs. McNeese with all three matches decided by one goal, including last year's double-overtime win which was the 100th of
Casey Wilson's head coaching career.
The Wildcats (5-7-2, 4-1-1 Southland) come into this weekend a bit rested as they've been off from competition since last Friday when they blanked Houston Baptist at home 3-0 for their fifth shutout of the season and fourth against Southland opposition.
Sydney Newton was voted Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time in 2016 for her contributions (five saves) during the match while Throneberry (two assists) and
Chantal Kinsey (goal, nine shots allowed) received honorable mentions for the league's Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards.
The HBU result not only propelled the Wildcats into fourth place over the Huskies, but placed Newton atop two statistical categories as she currently leads the Southland with a 0.78 goals-against average and five shutouts. She also ranks second with an .870 save percentage and is fifth with 60 saves.
Offensively,
Chloe Fifer remains the league leader with seven assists while Throneberry is tied for ninth with four assists.
There are no other Wildcats among the league's offensive leaders as the Wildcats' shot and goal distributions have been fairly even. Roberts and Throneberry share the team lead in goals with three as they are two of 13 Wildcats who have scored at least one goal this fall.
ACU's shot leaders are
Dylan Owens with 33 and
Samantha Vestal with 31, and not far behind them are Throneberry and Snider with 21 and freshman midfielder
Brooke Lenz with 20.
