Hilltoppers’ magical season comes to an end as they fall to West Texas A&M in penalty kicks
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The St. Edward's women's soccer team saw its dream season come to an end Friday evening at the Triton Soccer Field as it fell to #13 West Texas A&M in penalty kicks, 4-1.
St. Edward's (16-3-3) dominated the match, outshooting West Texas 14-4, and put four shots on goal compared to zero for the Lady Buffs.
The Hilltoppers had two chances in the first half to get on the scoreboard, with the first coming in the eighth minute when junior Janae Averett had a breakaway chance and her shot hit the Lady Buff goalkeeper Kelly Skehan in the leg and bounced wide.
In the 30th minute, senior Stacey Copeland had her header off of a cornerkick hit the crossbar and caromed out of the goal box.
In the second half, the Hilltoppers put the pressure on once again. In the 61st minute, sophomore Jordan Ynostrosa received a pass forward just inside the box, but her shot was saved by Skehan.
With just 47 seconds on the clock, Copeland was at again and she almost turned in a Sportscenter-quality performance when she volleyed a shot from 15 yards out to the far post, but she hit the post once again.
The match headed to overtime where neither team threatening on goal.
In the penalty kicks, both teams held serve in the first round, which included a goal by senior Alex Podowski. In the second round of kicks, West Texas A&M made its try, but freshman Sara Singleton missed wide right. In the third round, the Lady Buffs converted once again. Copeland stepped up to shoot and Skehan guessed right and made the save. Becky Hewson made her penalty kick and gave the Lady Buffs the victory.
"I thought we started the match well, but were a little inconsistent in the middle part of the match," head coach Nick Cowell said. "Towards the end of the match, we controlled the pace of play. It really shows how well our girls played to be able to dominate a match against a team that hasn't been dominated all season."
St. Edward's outshot West Texas A&M, 14-4, and put four shots on goal. The Hilltoppers also had five cornerkicks compared to just two for the Lady Buffs.
The Hilltoppers end the 2009 season that saw the team advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. They also had the third most wins in school history with 16 victories.