DENTON, Texas – Texas Woman's could not overcome early errors and dropped a 2-1 decision to Lone Star Conference rival Texas A&M-Commerce Wednesday night at Pioneer Soccer Park.

TAMUC took a quick 1-0 lead at 4:12 into the game when Michelle Kotlik headed the ball off a corner kick through the hands of freshman goalkeeper Jazmine Maxwell.  TWU (5-5-1, 2-2-1 LSC) found themselves vulnerable as they had to fend off a series of five TAMUC corners in the first 10 minutes.

"We just had mental lapses and this was something we talked about in the scouting report and pre-game that we need to make sure we front in their players on throw ins and to make sure that our clearances are out," Head coach Babak Abouzar said.  "It just wasn't organized on corner kicks and in the first five minutes we're a goal down.  It changes the dynamic of things." 

At 10:27, senior Lauren Neely put the Pioneers on the attack when she beat the Lion goalie from the left side and took a shot on goal only to have a defender race in with a slide to clear the ball.  TWU stayed in the offensive third and barraged TAMUC (5-4-0, 2-3-0 LSC) with seven shots but they could not get the ball into the back of the net.

Another defensive mistake by the Pioneers made the score 2-0 when the Lions' Sabrina Munguia ran down a long pass, beating Maxwell and slotting the ball into the open net at 30:47.

At the half, TWU held a 14-6 advantage in shots with nothing to show on the scoreboard.

"At halftime, we discussed that we needed to make sure that the way we were defending, we were moving forward and not back," Abouzar said.  "But we need to be a little bit smarter about where we are giving up a throw in in our defensive third."

The Pioneers held the ball better in the second half and tried to execute their style of play but the Lions continuously disrupted any flow of the game with their speed and long clearances.

TWU kept testing TAMUC keeper Caitlin Duty, forcing her to making a diving save at 80:24 off a 20-yard rocket launched by freshman Kaylee Rekieta. 

The Pioneers caught a break when the Lions were called for a hand ball in the box and junior Maddie Nolton converted the penalty kick at 87:12 to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.

But there wasn't enough time to build any momentum and the Pioneers' two-game winning streak came to an end.  TWU outshot TAMUC, 22-9, with freshman Riley Sutton tallying a game-high four and with nine different Pioneers getting one shot on goal each.

"I definitely feel that we had our chances were there with the amount of shots and opportunities we had, so that is very good and positive to see," Abouzar said. "Even though we didn't score from the run of play, the opportunities were there so we just need to keep building off of that and know that hey, we can't get discouraged because of one result.  We're heading in the right direction.  We've got a big game on Friday."

TWU's next game is at Midwestern State on Friday at 7 p.m.