The rain that drenched much of the Big Country over the weekend played a role in two of the Wildcats’ soccer matches.
Wind gusts over 25 miles per hour, slippery, muddy playing surfaces and overcast skies were prevalent in Friday’s match against Eastern New Mexico, but the No. 4 Wildcats prevailed 1-0 despite the conditions.
“The wind makes it a completely different match,” senior Lyndsey Womack said. “It forces you to think more and keep the ball on the ground.”
Sunday’s match against rival West Texas A&M was canceled because of the same storm, which brought over 3 inches of rain to Abilene. The match will be made up at 1 p.m. on Oct. 30.
But the postponement provided a small sense of relief for the team that has played four matches in nine days and needs to rest for the second round of Lone Star Conference matches, said Head Coach Casey Wilson.
“This comes as great timing because it will allow us some more time to prepare for this weekend’s games,” Wilson said.
In Friday’s game, the duo of Andrea Carpenter and Womack connected for the Wildcat’s lone goal en route to the ‘Cats 1-0 win.
This was the second time in three days the play of those two has resulted in a goal.
Carpenter scored the match’s lone goal in the 80th minute after being the beneficiary of a spot-on ball from Womack following a Zias’ turnover.
Womack raced up the middle of the field following the turnover and found Carpenter, who finished off the combination with her 11th goal of the season and sixth in the past four games.
“Without Lyndsey’s spot-on pass, I could not have been able to score. She is the one who did the work on that,” Carpenter said.
Womack said she and Carpenter have developed great camaraderie and that goal epitomized it.
“It could have been anybody, but I found myself with an open field and just went for it,” Womack said. “I connect well with Andrea and that’s one of our favorite balls to play. As soon as she got the ball I knew she would score at the right moment.”
ACU finished the match with a 16-4 shot advantage, as it outshot the Zias 8-2 in each half.
Senior goalkeeper Elliott London was forced to make only one save, which was because of the havoc-wreaking wind and a stagnant Wildcat defense. Eastern New Mexico goalkeeper Sierra Cardenas made five saves and suffered the loss.
The win improved No. 4 ACU’s record to 11-0-1, 7-0-1, and keeps the team atop the LSC standings. ENMU dropped to 4-5-3, 2-3-3, as it is now tied for eighth place with Incarnate Word.
Additionally, the Wildcats remain in first place in the South Central Region with Central Missouri in second.
The Wildcats return to action Friday for the beginning of a five-match road trip against Incarnate Word, who is responsible for the lone blemish on the Wildcats’ record following a 1-1 tie on Sept. 16.
