The No. 24 ACU women’s soccer team prolonged their winning Sunday, beating Truman State 4-2 in a non-conference, neutral site victory.
The Wildcats (4-0) had an array of players contribute to the scoring, as four different players each scored in the effort.
Senior Ashley Holton kicked off the scoring, putting the ‘Cats on top 1-0 after scoring in the eleventh minute of the game. The All-American forward got off a quick shot that went past Truman State goalkeeper Jayne Grisham a mere eleven minutes into the game.
“Like I’ve always said, scoring first and early is such a confidence booster for our team. Doing so shows that we’re here to play ready to go,” Head Coach Casey Wilson said. “Once again, when we did it, things went in our favor I’m glad we’re continuing to do so.”
Freshman midfielder Madison Brown added to the Wildcats’ offensive attack, making the game 2-0 in the thirty-second minute. That goal was the first of Brown’s young career at ACU, and she follows suit behind her freshman teammate Sarah Schoch, who scored her first collegiate goal last week.
“Anytime we can get our outside mids attacking towards the goal, good things are going to happen,” Wilson said. “Madison penetrated the box and put a foot on a ball that the goalie initially stopped. I’m very proud of her.”
Coming out of the half down 2-0, Truman State forward Olivia Hayes cut the score in half, scoring off of a pass by Kelsey Twellman in the sixty-first minute.
The score really energized the Truman team, and junior Julie Coppedge knew how important it was for the Wildcats to respond quickly to make the game a comfortable two-goal deficit.
All-American Andrea Carpenter took that into her own hands, and scored a goal not one minute after Hayes goal. Carpenter received a pass from Krysta Grimm and then sent the ball to the back of the net.
“Krysta made an amazing pass through traffic to me that put me in a great position to finish it off,” Carpenter said. “She’s the one that made it happen.”
With the goal, Carpenter now has four on the season and has a team-leading 10 points. The sophomore is beginning her second year much like she did in her freshman campaign en route to a school record 22 goals and 48 points.
Senior Lyndsey Womack piled onto the lead, scoring in the seventy-second minute spurred by a Grimm pass once again.
For Womack, it was her first goal in two years after missing last season due to a torn ACL.
“I got moved to center mid sometime in the second half and had an opportunity to penetrate through the defense and get a quality shot off,” she said. “It feels so good to feel like I contributed to the game, and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net. My teammates set me up with the perfect scenario.”
The Wildcats begin a two-game home stretch beginning Friday, as they host Incarnate Word at 5 p.m. and Angelo State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
