The No. 4 Wildcats continued their winning ways, outscoring Texas Woman’s and Texas A&M-Commerce 8-3 in a pair of games at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
The wins extend the team’s current unbeaten streak to 15 games while in the middle of a five-game home stand that will continue Wednesday.
The Wildcats (9-0-1, 5-0-1) overcame a 2-1 deficit against Texas Woman’s on Friday with three second-half goals en route to trumping the Pioneers 4-2.
Sophomore Andrea Carpenter found the back of the net twice in the contest and said the comeback win was integral for the team.
“This win was good for our team because if they all come easy, sometimes you don’t always know how to come back,” Carpenter said. “This result reminded us that we’re capable of winning even if we’re down one or two goals.”
The Pioneers’ record fell to 0-7-2 despite giving Head Coach Casey Wilson and his team reason to worry by their performance in the first half.
“Texas Woman’s came out and executed their game plan to perfection against us,” he said. “I wasn’t worried, but I could tell our girls were frustrated.”
Carpenter said she felt the heat on the field.
“It was nerve racking at halftime, but we quickly calmed down,” Carpenter said. “For myself, I was mad and I made it a point to put it all out there on the field.”
The contest started out favorably for the Wildcats. Carpenter found a wide-open Whitley Lindholm, midfielder, a mere 2 minutes into the game to put the ‘Cats up 1-0.
Carpenter followed suit, scoring in the 51st minute to knot the score at 2 off a pass from junior midfielder Lexi Stirling. She scored again 10 minutes later off a deflection by TWU goalkeeper Beatrice Soto.
Lindholm scored for a second time in the 79th minute off a crisp pass from midfielder Julie Coppedge.
Coppedge slotted the ball on a straight line inside the 6-yard box, and Lindholm slid forward to poke it past Soto.
The Wildcats finished the match with a 34-6 shot advantage. Texas Woman’s did not take a shot on goal in the second half, and senior goalkeeper Elliott London improved her season record to 7-0.
Sunday, the Wildcats had vengeance on their mind in their game against Texas-A&M Commerce, who was the last Lone Star Conference team to beat the Wildcats before their 15-game winning streak. With the help of Carpenter and sophomore midfielder Ashley Craig, ACU thumped Commerce 4-1.
Carpenter scored two goals and Craig provided two assists coming off the bench for the Wildcats.
“In the locker room before the game, we talked about how the game last year didn’t have the outcome we wanted, and how we were going to come out with a chip-on-our-shoulder attitude,” Carpenter said. “Commerce came out playing Commerce-style soccer, and we expected that and were ready.”
Despite the Lions’ strategy of dropping nine players back on defense to contain the ACU offense, the Wildcats remained patient and scored four times off of crosses and clean passes.
“Our strategy is to create enough opportunities so that we have chances to put the ball in the back of the net, and we did that well,” Wilson said.
Carpenter’s first goal came off a pass from Lindholm before booting the ball over goalkeeper Randi Hafele in the 13th minute.
Her second goal came off an assist from Coppedge that Carpenter tapped into the goal.
“My second goal came off of a cross from Julie, and she sent me the perfect ball,” she said. “I was lucky enough to get a leg on it and kick it in the right direction.”
Ashley Craig came in off the bench and immediately made her presence known.
Craig found freshman Megan Turner in the 36th minute, who headed it in the net.
Craig then found junior Krysta Grimm in the 79th minute, who beat Hafele with a header, making the score 4-1.
“Ashley has had a great weekend period,” Wilson said. “She comes in halfway through the first half and immediately makes an impact on the game.”
Craig said the players around her make her job easy.
“Both of my crosses were me crossing it in. Thank goodness the forwards were there to finish,” Craig said. “Our forwards are great at finishing.”
The Wildcats will continue their homestand Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Midwestern State at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
