ABILENE - Abilene Christian soccer scored twice in the first half, and held off a persistent Southeastern Louisiana attack following the break in defeating the Lady Lions, 2-0, during a rainy Sunday at Elmer Gray Stadium.
The win lifted the Wildcats' season and conference records to 4-6-1 and 3-0, while Southeastern fell to 4-6-1 and 1-2. ACU is off to its best start in Southland compeition as the Wildcats today defeated the Lady Lions for the third time in four seasons.
Rain fell throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning to drench the Big Country, and the soaked pitch at Elmer Gray gave way to some awkward bounces and ball movement that hindered prime scoring oppotunities for each side.
The match, however, started under dry skies and it was within the first five minutes of action that ACU went ahead 1-0 on an unassisted strike by junior midfielder
Chloe Fifer, who leads the team with nine points. Fifer drove the ball down the near sideline, and after splitting the defense she angled her way inside the 18-yard box and ripped a head-high line drive that Southeastern goalkeeper Hope Sabadash couldn't keep up with.
Fifer's goal was her first of 2016 and gives her a streak of three matches with at least two points. She recorded two assists last Saturday at Corpus Christi and this Friday in the overtime win vs. Nicholls.
The weather continued to worsen as the contest progressed, leading to some tricky moments for both teams. In the 15th minute, ACU recorded three straight corner kicks in a 37-second span, but couldn't convert on any of them as the Lady Lions kept clearing the ball out of bounds. Then in 19th minute, Wildcat senior goalkeeper
Sydney Newton made two tremdendous saves back-to-back against shots from Payton Colson and Amber Lasher.
ACU nearly made it a 2-0 game in the 25th minute, but
Megan Baer's attempt from inside the 18-yard box rang the bottom of the crossbar, and following the 30th minute, Sabadash did her best to keep her side in the game by stopping shots from
Leslie Snider and
Samantha Vestal.
Vestal today led all player with five shots, all of which were on frame, and it was during the closing minutes of the first half that she blasted a brilliant shot taken from about 25 to 30 yards away with Sabadash off the line. Vestal was assisted on the play by
Peyton Bucklew, who dropped the ball in perfectly to Vestal as she beat her defender. Vestal took no more than three steps before giving the Wildcats a huge insurance goal.
Into the second half, Southeastern dominated the offensive side of the stat sheet, outshooting the Wildcats 13-5 for a final advantage of 21-11.
The Lady Lions fired three shots in the first five minutes, and Newton again had to be on her toes in the 62nd minute as a blocked shot was followed by one of her seven saves. Southeastern stepped up its attack once again in the final minutes, and came within inches of scoring off a corner kick if not for a team save at the far post by
Alyssa Gerner. Newton then had to save the rebound shot, which came off the foot of Casey Peacock.
Southeastern's final shot of the match, taken at the start of the 90th minute, sailed high to give Newton her third shutout of the season and second in conference play. She has seven for her career.
Sabadah made six saves in the losing effort, and Peacock led her side with five shots.
The Wildcats return to action next weekend for the start of a two-match road trip. Friday night they play at Northwestern State, and Sunday they visit Central Arkansas. Match times are 7 and 1 p.m.
