CORPUS CHRISTI – The Abilene Christian soccer team upended Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 2-1 Friday night behind two goals from junior
Dylan Owens within the first 10 minutes of the match.
The Wildcats improved to 6-7 overall and 4-2 vs. the Southland Conference following tonight's victory, while the Islanders fell to 4-6-3 and 1-4-1.
Owens first goal came in the fifth minute after finishing a through ball sent by senior
Chloe Fifer from the right side of the field, and less than five minutes later the Willard (Mo.) native tallied her sixth goal of the season (16th career), following through on a pass from sophomore
Brooke Lenz.
Owens' two-goal performance was the team's third of the season and 35th in program history. The forward, who tonight tied her career season high from 2015 with six goals, previously registered a two-goal effort late last season vs. Incarnate Word.
"It was important that we came out and struck early," head coach
Casey Wilson said. "Texas A&M – Corpus Christi has a tough defense and are a quality team. Road wins are tough on longer trips and coming down here and winning was nice."
The Islanders eventually cut their deficit in the 81st minute when Kayla Gove took a cross from Mariah Ramon on the outside left corner and headed the ball into the net past goalkeeper
Erin Smith (three saves). However, the home team would not record another shot for the remaining nine minutes of regulation.
ACU senior
Megan Baer looked to add an insurance goal less than three minutes after the Islanders' score, but Corpus goalkeeper Kyleigh Hall was able to get a handle on the shot for her third and final save of the evening.
The Wildcats outshot the Islanders 7-5 (5-4 shot on goal) and recorded three corner kicks while allowing two to Corpus.
ACU is off this Sunday and will resume Southland action next weekend when they travel to play McNeese and Lamar, which are currently tied for first place with matching 5-1 records.
