Two goals in the second half sank the Wildcats chances Sunday night, as the women’s soccer team fell to Texas Christian University 3-0 in Fort Worth.
“Things just didn’t go as we planned,” sophomore Natalie Thornberry said. “TCU was just a very athletic and fit team. They were all strong and persistent in their play and didn’t step down their play the entire 90 minutes of play.”
The Wildcats entered the game against TCU with hopes of getting back on the winning track, after falling below .500 with a loss against the University of North Texas, 3-1. ACU fell behind in the early going, giving up a goal after just three and a half minutes of play.
“They came out strong and it was a challenge for us to keep up,” Thornberry said.
The Wildcats went into halftime down only a goal, but would find the back of the TCU net an impossible task to accomplish. The Horned Frogs continued their offensive attack that yielded two more goals. Freshman Emma Heckendorn led the way for the visiting Frogs, as she recorded a four-point night, with two assists and a goal herself.
“TCU was playing a 5-3-2 so we had a lot of pressure in the attacking third with us only having two forwards,” freshman Leslie Snider said.
The Wildcats were able to manage six shots on the goal for the match. Sophomore Maria Gomez got two of those shots, while Snider, seniors Madison Brown and Emily Sumrall, along with freshman Baylee Mitchell each registered a shot.
ACU is currently ranked third in the Southland Conference for shots put up so far this year, but only fifth in actual goals scored. The Wildcats do lead the league in saves, as they have 39 saves through six games, most of those coming from sophomore Sydney Newton, who registered eight saves against UTEP and then a career high nine against North Texas.
“After coming off of two losses, this week at practice we will all be ready to fully prepare for our next game and work as hard as we can,” Thornberry said. “We will look to focus on just doing the simple things right and finishing our chances we get.”
The Wildcats will look to get back to their winning ways Friday against the University of Texas-Pan American in San Antonio.
“This is the first year for a soccer program at Pan-American so we will look to capitalize on their weaknesses or mistakes,” Snider said. “We really need to pick up our practices and focus on some tactical sides to the game in preparation.”
