HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Sophomore
Christina Arteaga scored two times in the first half,
Samantha Vestal added a score in the final seconds, and the ACU soccer team put together a second-straight dominant performance Friday night in a hostile environment. The Wildcats put together one of their best games of 2018 in a 3-0 route of the Bearkats of Sam Houston State University at Pritchett Field, and have outscored their last two opponents 6-0. With the win, ACU clinches a berth in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 31.
The win was also significant for ACU (10-5-1, 5-3-1 Southland) to keep pace with the McNeese Cowgirls (6-2-1 Southland), who earned a 3-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday night. The Wildcats currently sit in fifth place in the standings with 16 points, and will look to climb up with two games left in the regular season.
"It was a good team win tonight," said head coach
Casey Wilson. "Sam Houston State is quite a physical team. We took advantage on offense and our back line continued to be very solid. We look forward to building on what we are doing right now."
ACU was very efficient on the offensive side of the pitch all night, but specifically in the opening half. The visitors held a 9-5 lead in shot attempts, and took advantage with two scores from the reining Southland Freshman of the Year. Arteaga took a pass from teammate
Shay Johnson in the middle, and used her athleticism to dribble around her defender and place a perfect ball in the back of the net. The Wildcats led 1-0 after 18 minutes, and eight minutes later, the sophomore was at it again.
Senior
Sophie Standifer fed the ball up the field in the 26th minute, and classmate
Dylan Owens took over from there. The second-leading scorer in ACU history became the helper on the play, feeding the ball to red-hot Arteaga, who sent in her second score of the night. The Pflugerville native registered her first career multi-goal game, and now leads the squad with six scores on the season. Owens matched Arteaga with her team-best fourth assist of 2018.
"Christina really had a lot of good opportunities tonight," added Wilson. "She took advantage and scored a couple of really nice goals. I thought Sophie [Standifer] had one of her better games of the year as well on both sides of the ball. It was really great to see it all come together."
Defensively, ACU allowed five shot attempts in the first 45 minutes, and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Rachel Johnson recorded three saves in that span. Sam Houston State took a shot and had three corner kicks all in a two-minute span, but the Wildcat defense held strong. The visitors took their 2-0 lead into halftime, and were not done.
The ball seemingly was on the Bearkat side of the pitch the entire second period. ACU outshot SHSU 22-6 in the final 45 minutes, including an 11-3 lead in shots placed on goal. Johnson added three more saves en route to her sixth shutout of the season, and seventh of her career. The Wildcats have tallied 10 shutouts, adding to their Division I program record. The team is now one clean sheet away from matching their all-time record for shutouts in a season, set in 2011. The 31 shot attempts tied for the second-most shots in a game this season, one behind the 32 shots against New Mexico State on Sept. 2. It was the most shots taken in a road game this season.
The finishing touches were put on the match with just seven seconds remaining. Junior
Samantha Vestal scored her second of the season off a miss from freshman
Laura Mauldin. Mauldin' shot kicked off the post, and Vestal was there to clean up the mess and give ACU its second-straight 3-0 victory.
The Wildcats held a 5-0 edge in corner kicks in the second half, and a 7-3 lead in that category on the night. ACU committed two less fouls than SHSU, winning 8-6 in that statistic.
Offensively, 12 different players tallied shot attempts, led by Arteaga's seven. Freshman
Alyssia Anuat tallied five, while Vestal and Standifer each added three.
Shay Johnson, Owens, Standifer, and Mauldin were all credited with assists.
ACU closes their road schedule Sunday, Oct. 21 in Nacogdoches, Texas with a key matchup against the Ladyjacks of Stephen F. Austin. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. The team returns home for the regular-season finale and Senior Night on Friday, Oct. 26 against Incarnate Word at 7 p.m.
