Watch - Trinity Goal | Watch - Haley Goal
DENTON, Texas - Texas Woman's commanded the first half of Lone Star Conference play against UT-Permian Basin on Sunday at Pioneer Soccer Park, then fought off a reinvigorated UTPB in the second to secure a 2-1 victory.
"We exerted so much energy on Friday and we knew that we were going to have to count on our depth and our subs to come in and help us out," TWU head coach Babak Abouzar said. "It's tough coming out here for two games in 36 hours and putting in all that work, credit to our team for their resiliency."
The Pioneers (5-4-1, 2-1-1 LSC) didn't give the Falcons' defense a rest in the first half by taking six shots on goal out and keeping goalkeeper Chenoa Crites on her toes. At 15:43, freshman Trinity Kaufman took a cross from sophomore Jazmine Navarro and slotted her first collegiate goal low into the right side of the net.
"We wanted to continue where we left off on Friday's game, going for their back line, being physical, being aggressive, and I think that we did a really good job of that," Abouzar said.
The second half began with the Pioneers struggling at the midfield to maintain control, allowing UTPB's Lea Walenta to dribble down the right side, sending a shot into the upper right corner for the Falcons' only goal at 55:54.
TWU wouldn't take that goal lying down, however, and quickly began launching attack after attack. After a dizzying string of shot attempts by sophomore Haley Ward, who currently sits second in the LSC in shots per game, the Pioneers finally penetrated the UTPB (1-8-0, 0-4-3 LSC) defense. Ward notched her team-leading fourth goal of the year when she took a pass from senior Lauren Neely in the 88th minutes of the half, and shot inside the box to secure the win.
"I have to give a lot of credit for Haley Ward for coming in and giving us that game-winning goal," Abouzar said. "She's kind of been under the weather, but she really wanted to do what she could to help the team out."
In total, TWU took a season-high 28 shots to UTPB's six, also setting new season highs in shots for Neely, Harper and freshman Erica Anderson.
Texas Woman's faces off against LSC rivals Texas A&M – Commerce 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pioneer Soccer Park in another conference match.
