BROKEN ARROW – Abilene Christian women's soccer battled evenly through much of the night but couldn't break through offensively, falling 2-0 to Oral Roberts on Friday at the Kirkland Activities Complex.
The Wildcats held the Golden Eagles scoreless for over 70 minutes behind a strong defensive effort and four first-half saves from goalkeeper
Bella Medrano. Despite generating seven total shots and five corner kicks, ACU was unable to find the back of the net.
Peyton Hill led the attack with three shots, including the Wildcats' lone attempt on target.
Oral Roberts struck late, capitalizing in the 74th minute for the first goal of the night. The Golden Eagles added insurance in the 87th minute to secure the 2-0 result.
Medrano finished with four saves in the match, while the Wildcats held ORU to just two second-half corners after withstanding heavy early pressure. Both sides ended the contest even with six fouls apiece, while ACU was flagged for four offsides.
"Tonight was a valiant effort on the road against a talented Oral Roberts side," said head coach
Stephen Salas. "It was back and forth for 70 plus [minutes] and we had the go ahead goal go off the post. We keep getting better each game and we know we're building something special. Our outside backs and midfield continued to solve throughout the night and we tried some new ideas out which will help us for conference play. Our growth in the midfield was noticed and we're looking forward to the next game on Sunday."
The Wildcats now hold a record of 3-2 going into Sunday's game in Commerce, Texas. ACU will face East Texas A&M on their home turf on August 31 at 1:00 p.m. CT.
