PORTALES, N.M. – Coming off their second win in Lone Star Conference Tournament history, the Eastern New Mexico women's soccer team is ready to challenge top-seeded and nationally 19th-ranked West Texas A&M on Friday at 6:30 p.m. for the right to play in the LSC Championship match.
LAST TIME OUT
The Eastern New Mexico women's soccer team had to overcome quite a bit of adversity, but after the time of the game was changed three times and the venue was moved from Lion Soccer Field in Commerce, Texas to Kyle Field in Rockwall due to inclement weather, the fifth-seeded Hounds put together one of their best performances of the season in a 2-0 victory over No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce.
Sophomore forward Keyara Zuniga scored both goals for ENMU in the contest, the first coming in the 29th minute of the first half as she headed in a beautiful cross from Victoria Nuñez from the right side to give Eastern the 1-nil advantage going into the half.
Zuniga added her second in the 72nd minute. After a foul was called on TAMUC in Eastern's attacking half of the field, senior midfielder Bailey Bosley sent her free kick from the right side near the left post. In a mad scramble for the ball, Zuniga was the fastest to get to it and her shot from close range found the back of the net to make it a two-goal advantage.
SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M enters the match with a 15-2-1 record overall and a 10-1-1 record in LSC play. As the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, they had a bye in the first round, but are coming off a pair of home victories last week after defeating Angelo State 2-1 on Oct. 26 and UT-Permian Basin 2-0 on Oct. 28.
The Lady Buffs enter the contest as the best scoring offense and scoring defense in the conference, averaging 2.33 goals per match while limiting opponents to 0.67 goals per game. Defensively, WTAMU ranks 26th in all of NCAA Division II nationally in goals against average.
On the offensive side of the field, West Texas features two of the best attackers in the entire conference. Junior forward Khaline Jacob is tied for second in the league with 11 goals scored this season while her sophomore forward teammate Hannah Kelley-Lusk is second in the league with 24 points on the fourth-most goals in the LSC with nine and the second-most assists with six.
Defensively, the Lady Buffs feature one of the best goalkeepers in the Lone Star in senior Courtney Dippel. Playing in every minute at goal for WTAMU, Dippel leads the league with an .860 save percentage and is second in both goals against average with .654 and shutouts with eight.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M holds the 16-4-3 edge in the all-time series against the Hounds dating back to their first matchup in 2003.
Eastern will be seeking its first win against West Texas A&M since Oct. 17, 2014 when they picked up a 1-0 victory in Portales. 2014 was the last time the Hounds were victorious in Canyon as well, as they won a 1-0 match against the Lady Buffs just a few weeks prior on Oct. 3, 2014.
In their previous two matchups this season, Eastern fell 3-1 on Sept. 26 in Canyon and dropped a tough 2-1 decision on Oct. 10 in Portales.
KEY(ARA) PLAYER
Keyara Zuniga has become a vital part of the ENMU offense the last few weeks. Last week against UT-Permian Basin, Zuniga tied the team-lead in goals and points scored with a goal in the 80th minute as well as an assist on Charlotte Collins-Blaize's second goal of the match.
Zuniga joined Collins-Blaize on Wednesday night as one of two players for the Hounds to score multiple goals in a match this this season.
In the previous 14 matches, Zuniga had four points on two goals off of seven shots, but in the last three matches, she has seven points on three goals coming off of 12 shots and an assist.
DÉJÀ VU
The Hounds repeated history last night when they won their second consecutive LSC Quarterfinal match. Until last season, Eastern had never won a conference quarterfinal match until the Hounds defeated Midwestern State 4-0 on Nov. 1, 2017. Like last season's quarterfinal, the Greyhounds stifled the Lions attack, holding them to just four shots on-goal for the entire match.
LEADING THE PACK
With Nuñez and Bosley each recording assists in the matchup against the Lions, they became the team-leaders with three assists apiece on the season. The Hounds offensively have spread the wealth this season as nine different players have recorded assists this season, five of which have two or more.
SHUTTING OUT THE COMPETITION
After pitching the shutout against the Lions, freshman goalkeeper Taylor Jackson earned her sixth shutout of the season. The mark set a new ENMU program record, surpassing the previous mark of five set by Alejandra Camarillo last season.
