SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Two goals in quick succession in the second half lifted St. Mary's over Eastern New Mexico Women's Soccer, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Sigma Beta Chi Field. With the loss, ENMU shift to 1-8-4 overall with a 0-6-1 standing in conference play. Meanwhile, the Rattlers improve to 6-2-5 with a 5-1-1 LSC standing.
The home side wasted no time on getting on the scoreboard, hitting the back of the net just 49 seconds into the match. With the Greyhounds trailing, ENMU turned up the pressure with
Sierra Villanueva and
Sofia Trejo finding a shot on goal midway through the period. Then, with just 18 seconds remaining in the half,
Brianna Eye struck a loose ball into the bottom corner to tie the game at 1-1 going into the break.
St. Mary's dominated the opening 15 minutes of the second frame, scoring a quick pair of goals in that time. The second goal of the match for the Rattlers came from a header from a corner kick, then StMU hit the Greyhounds on the counterattack just 67 seconds later to give a two-goal cushion. The continued pressure from the Rattlers prevented the Hounds from getting back in the contest, finishing 3-1 StMU.
NOTABLE STATS
- Eye scored the Greyhounds goal, coming unassisted. Trejo led the attack with three shots in the match, while Nina Ballesteros contributed a pair of efforts. Samantha Jeffries produced six saves in goal during the defeat.
- Alexis Truitt was involved in each of the Rattler's goals, assisting the first and third score, while scoring the game winning goal. Malia Dominguez and Sydney Varela both scored during the match. Both Varela and Truitt finished with four shots during the game, with two shots on target. Rebecca Difronzo finished the match with two saves in goal for St.MU.
- Both teams were evenly matched in the first half, but St. Mary's out shot ENMU 13-5 in the second period, finishing 20-11 over the whole match. The match was physical, with ENMU committing 12 fouls and St. Mary's committing 14 fouls.
FROM THE SOURCE
"We play in a very unforgiving league, that punishes you for making mistakes," said Head Women's Soccer Coach Eric Belcher. "Today we made a few mistakes and took it on the chin,".
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Eye's strike in the 45th minute was their first career goal for the Green and Silver.
- A total of six Greyhounds played the full 90 minutes: Raegan Dash, Haley Huff, Jeffries, Kinsie Mitchell, Sarah Tate, and Villanueva.
- Eastern New Mexico look to bounce back when they face Oklahoma Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 18. at Greyhound Stadium. The match, taking place during homecoming week, will begin at 5 p.m.
