ABILENE – The Abilene Christian soccer team wraps up its regular season schedule on the road Friday in San Antonio at 7 p.m. when they take on Incarnate Word.
Following Sunday's 2-0 win over Stephen F. Austin the Wildcats (7-10, 5-5 Southland) secured a spot in the Southland Conference tournament and currently sit in sixth, one point ahead of Sam Houston State and four removed from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-6-1) and Nicholls (3-6-1).
"Clinching a spot in the Southland tournament for the fifth year in a row is a great achievement for our program," head coach
Casey Wilson said. "We look forward to playing in it this year and making the most of it."
Against the Cardinals:
The Wildcats and Cardinals have hit the pitch 11 previous times before Friday's contest with ACU holding an advantage in the all-time series 6-3-2. The first meeting between the two squads was in 2008 with the Wildcats falling to the Cardinals, 1-0, however ACU has won four of the last five matches by a combined score of 11-3.
Senior
Chloe Fifer and junior
Dylan Owens each put one over the line in the Wildcats' 4-0 victory at Elmer Gray Stadium in 2015. In the final game of last season Owens scored both goals for ACU in its 2-1 win. Owens connected with a Fifer corner kick to put one on the board early in the first half of the contest. Her game-winner came late in the second half after blasting one past UIW's goalkeeper.
Coach's Quote: "We are looking for an always tough game against Incarnate Word Friday night. Our goal is to continue to execute better in the attacking third as well as play tighter defense."
Follow Along: Friday's game against UIW can be viewed for free
here or you can follow along the
live stats.
Quick Kicks:
- Junior Dylan Owens scored the game winner against UTEP in overtime, giving ACU its first victory of the season
- Owens was named Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week for October 10
- Owens leads the team with seven goals, two assists and 16 points, ranking eighth in the Southland in points
- Freshman Erin Smith has recorded 53 saves in 14 games
- Senior Megan Baer and sophomore Samantha Vestal lead the Wildcats with three assists each
- Sophomore Shay Johnson leads the team with 1,439 minutes this season
- The Wildcats six goals against Northwestern State is the most against a conference opponent since 2015 when ACU beat Lamar 6-2.
- 26 Wildcats have seen action on the pitch this season
- ACU has 15 returners and 15 newcomers on the 2017 roster
- This is head coach Casey Wilson's 11th year with the team. He is the architect and only head coach in program history. He also is one of 23 NCAA DI women's soccer coaches still with the team that they founded.
