CORPUS CHRISTI - Abilene Christian soccer posted its biggest margin of victory through 10 seasons of conference openers, defating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-0, Saturday night at Dugan Stadium.
ACU is now 2-6-2 on the season and 1-0 against the Southland Conference, while the Islanders who have a -34 goal differential (3-37) fell to 0-8.
Whether playing in the Lone Star or Southland Conference, ACU's conference lidlifters have notoriously been nailbiters as their last nine either have been a one-goal decision or ended in a tie, much like last fall's 1-1 deadlock at home vs. the Islanders that evened the series at 1-1-1.
But unlike the previous three meetings vs. Corpus Christi, the outcome of this one was never in doubt.
Three of ACU's goals were scored in the first half by
Leslie Snider ('5),
Kelsie Roberts ('32) and
Megan Baer ('43), and
Chelsea Reedy added a 25-yard insurance strike in the 64th-minute to cap the Wildcats' scoring run.
Chloe Fifer assisted on the first two goals in lifting her season and career totals to five and nine. Additionally, her multi-assist performance was the 17th in school history and her two assists are one behind the single-match record of three shared by Courtney Wilson and Jordan Reese, who both attained that record in the program's inaugural season of 2007.
"It was a solid effort tonight," said head coach
Casey Wilson. "We scored four different goals and had opportunities for quite a few more. We still need to clean a few things up but we are proud of the effort tonight. We played as a team and different players stepped in to make a difference."
ACU outshot the Islanders, 21-11 with 11 of those shots on goal. The Wildcats also scored off one of their six corner kicks while holding Corpus Christi to only two attempts.
In making four saves, senior goalkeeper
Sydney Newton pitched her second shutout of the fall and sixth of her career, moving her into fourth place on the Wildcats' all-time leaders list and one behind Arielle Moncure, who shutout seven opponents between 2009-12.
The goals tonight for Roberts and Baer were their firsts of the season, while Snider and Reedy have each scored twice this fall, tying them with
Natalie Throneberry and
Shay Johnson for the team lead.
The Wildcats return to action next weekend with a Southland Conference homestand vs. Nicholls (Sept. 23) and Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 25). Match times are 7 and 1 p.m. ACU is a combined 4-2 against the Colonels and Lady Lions.
