FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University women's soccer team (2-1) fell in a 5-3 shootout against the University of Houston-Victoria (3-1-1) at Martin Field on Friday.
Sheilat Akapo powered the Jaguars. Akapo broke through the back line of the Rams and netted her first of three goals just 4:46 into the game.
Shrareh Asadi tied the game in the 27th minute on a beautiful double-assist by
Theresa Garsztecki and
Kaitlin Bush, but Akapo netted another easy goal in the 38th minute.
Just 35 seconds before the half, the Lady Rams were whistled for a foul in the box and Amber Zola converted the penalty kick to make it 3-1 at the intermission.
Texas Wesleyan came out with the proper attitude in the second half. Freshman
Lauren Marquez scored her first collegiate goal 2:33 into the period to cut into the deficit. However Akapo completed her hat-trick in the 56th minute, this time collecting the ball near midfield and beating two Lady Ram defenders on her way to the goal.
In the 74th minute,
Samantha Moore knocked in her first collegiate goal off a corner kick from
Kailene Allis. That briefly gave the Lady Rams life, but Yahajaira Lara put the game out of reach with a goal in the 87th minute.
"My hat's off to UHV," said head coach
Josh Gibbs. "They seemed to make us pay for every mistake we made. Adrian [Rigby] and his staff have done a great job building that program."
"I thought we dictated play and saw more of the ball," Gibbs continued. "We just got ourselves into way too much trouble to deserve a win. I'm proud of our players for staying positive and fighting until the end. All I ask is that they never give up, and they didn't tonight. We learned a lot about ourselves and there are a lot of positives moving forward."
For the game, the Rams outshot the Jaguars 21-16 and managed 5 corner kicks to none for UHV.
Nikki Lockwood (2-1) made six saves in the loss.
Jocelyn Cain came off the bench and mad one save in her collegiate debut. UHV's Ashley Rivas needed five saves to preserve the victory.
The Lady Rams will return to action on Tuesday, when they host Huston-Tillotson University. That game is scheduled for a 5:00 pm start.
Ramblings
- The Rams are now 2-1 all-time vs. Houston-Victoria. They lead the all-time series with Huston-Tillotson 6-1.
- The Lady Rams had not allowed 5 goals in a game since ending the 2012 season with a 6-0 loss to UT-Brownsville. That is a stretch of 38 games.
