PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women's soccer team will take the pitch for the final time during the regular season inside Greyhound Stadium when they host Oklahoma Christian and Midwestern State this weekend.
 
The Hounds face the Eagles on Thursday at 5 p.m. in a Halloween matchup before taking on Midwestern State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in their Senior Day game. Six Greyhounds will be finishing their Greyhound careers including Naomi Abeyta, Kirsten Lane, Madison Luttrell, Jaci Sievers, Julia Tucker and Morgan Zuniga.
 
LAST WEEK
 
The Hounds began last week with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Texas A&M International before falling on the road to St. Mary's 3-1.
 
Eastern New Mexico scored a penalty kick goal with just 16 seconds remaining in the game and put away the golden goal at the 102nd minute of the match to win 3-2 at Texas A&M-International. Desiree Morgas buried the penalty kick opportunity in the dying seconds of the game to give Eastern New Mexico a chance in overtime. Morgas continued to play the role of hero for the Hounds in the second overtime period as she set up senior Julia Tucker to score the game-winning goal in the 102nd minute of the game. Morgas' fifth goal of the season couldn't have come at a better time for the Greyhounds as Texas A&M-International scored the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute. Junior Hayden Zuniga negated a first-half score for the Dust Devils with a sliding finish after a free kick from sophomore Carly Kowalick bounced around inside the box before Zuniga slid onto the ball and finished in the top half of the goal. Senior Kirsten Lane subbed in at the goalkeeper spot in the second half and withstood nine shots from the Dust Devils in the half while making three saves.
 
The Hounds scored in less than seven minutes into the game before St. Mary's rattled off three consecutive goals as the Hounds fell to the Rattlers 3-1 Saturday afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Desiree Morgas was in the midst of a solid scoring chance in the first half before being aggressively fouled just a step outside the penalty box. Morgas would take the set piece at the 6:51 mark and sent it low and right of the wall before trickling into the bottom left corner of the net. St. Mary's would tie the match in the 24th minute before taking the lead following a penalty kick goal ten minutes later. The Hounds would finish the half with three more shots than the home team but the Rattler's took a 2-1 advantage into the locker room. The Hounds were the more potent offensive team, tallying 21 shots to St. Mary's 11 however both squads finished with five shots on goal apiece. Another costly penalty from the Hounds less than two minutes into the second half led to another Rattler goal as St. Mary's would hold on for a 3-1 victory.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
 
The Eagles earned their second victory of the year last week 2-0 over UT Permian Basin before being shutout themselves 3-0 against Lubbock Christian.
 
OC has struggled so far this season on both sides of the ball as they own the second lowest scoring margin in the Lone Star Conference at -1.93. The Eagles have scored nine goals while allowing 36 and their opponents average 2.57 scores per game when taking the field against OC.
 
Sophomore forward Natalie Thomas is the squad's most efficient scorer and leads the Eagles in goals (three) and points (seven) on 15 total shots. Also contributing offensively are forwards Brianna Concienne and Carson Hazel. Concienne has recorded a team-high three assists while Carson has netted a pair of goals.
 
Despite playing defender, senior Oby Okeke leads the team in shots (29) and shots on goal (nine) but even with her potent attack has yet to record a single point. Okeke has logged 1,260 minutes and has started all 14 games for OCU.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Gabby Goddard has had a rough start to her collegiate career as she has the third-highest goals against average in the league at 2.59. Goddard has 88 saves on the year, good enough for the second-best mark in the LSC and has compiled a .710 save percentage.
 
The Oklahoma Christian women's soccer program is under the leadership of, former OC soccer player, Head Coach Meagan Anderson. Before returning to OC, the 32-year-old Anderson spent five seasons as the head coach at Edmond North High School, posting a 60-22 overall record.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
 
The Mustangs experienced mixed results last week, beginning with a 2-1 loss to Lubbock Christian before salvaging the weekend with a 3-0 shutout victory over UT Permian Basin.
 
MSU has relinquished 20 goals while netting 18 of their own, posting a -.14 scoring margin. The Mustangs scoring output ranks them eighth in the LSC but have struggled to create offense as their 145 shots are the third lowest mark in the league.
 
The Mustangs offense revolves around junior midfielder Kelly Cannistra who leads the team with 12 points on five goals and a pair of assists. Junior forward Sara Machado has scored four goals for MSU in her first season at an NCAA school after spending her first two seasons at Daytona State where she was a NJCAA All-Region 8 Second Team selection in 2018.
 
MSU's backline is anchored by junior defender Micah Wilson as she leads the Mustangs with 1,149 minutes. The Mustangs have shown they can create quality scoring chances from the backline as their number three and four goal scorers play defender. Freshman Nicole Marsolek has netted three scores in 2019 while senior Imani Morlock has two in her final season with the team.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Aubrey Pettett has logged the majority of the minutes between the pipes for the Eagles and has appeared in 12 games, totaling 40 saves on 133 shots faced while posting a 1.34 goals against average and a .741 save percentage. Junior keeper Mckenna Williams has appeared in five games, making three starts and has recorded 15 saves and owns a 1.71 goals against average and a .714 save percentage.
 
Head Coach Ryan Spence enters his second season at the helm of the women's soccer program and owns a 6-22-4 overall record.
 
2019 STORY LINES
 
The Hounds began the 2019 campaign with four consecutive victories, the best start to the season in the 17-year history of the women's soccer program. With four complete game shutouts on the year, this year's squad has already moved into the program's single-season record book as they are tied for eighth all-time
 
Eastern is a part of a new-look LSC that has doubled in size from a year ago, expanding from seven teams to 14 teams.
 
FRESH FACES
 
The Hounds have seen many new faces contribute so far this season highlighted by team points leader Desiree Morgas and starting goalkeeper Whitney Dockweiler.
 
Morgas has recorded 14 points on six goals and two assists. The redshirt-sophomore ranks fourth in the conference with 3.77 shots per game and has totaled 49 on the year, the fifth-highest mark in the league. Her two game-winning goals are tied for the eighth-most in the LSC.
 
Dockweiler has recorded 63 saves on 152 shots faced and owns a 1.27 goals against average. The Bellevue, Neb. native is tied for the fifth-most shutouts in the ENMU all-time single-season record book while her .808 save percentage is the sixth-best amongst eligible participants (minimum five saves).
 
In total, 13 ENMU newcomers have logged minutes in 2019 including eight true freshman and five transfers.
 
GOOD COMPANY
 
Junior defender Hayden Zuniga has been a crucial piece to the 2017 and 2018 squads and has logged 3,441 minutes in her first two seasons. Averaging more than 1,700 minutes a season, the Sahuarita, Ariz. native is on pace to reach the all-time record books in just her third year. Victoria Perez sits at No. 10 on the list and played 4,824 minutes from 2011-14. Zuniga has already logged a team-high 1,207 minutes in 2019 and is 176 shy of catching Perez.
 
SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
 
Eastern will wrap up its regular season home slate with a Halloween match against Oklahoma Christian before playing Midwestern State for Senior Day on Nov. 2. The Hounds will close out the regular season on the road with matches at UT Permian Basin on Nov. 7 and Lubbock Christian on Nov. 9.
 
HOUNDS AT HOME
 
ENMU won its first three games inside Greyhound Stadium before dropping their last three, posting an even 3-3 record.
 
ENMU posted back-to-back shutouts over Adams State (3-0) and Fort Lewis (1-0)
to begin their home slate. The Greyhounds were able to capture their first Lone
Star victory of the season with a 2-1 win over conference newcomer UT Tyler.
 
SCORE FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LAST
 
In his first two years at the helm of the Eastern New Mexico women's soccer team, Josh Smith has posted an impressive 11-1-0 record when scoring the match's first goal. The Hounds are also 10-0-0 when scoring more than two goals in a game the past two seasons.