The women’s soccer team remained undefeated after this weekend, defeating both Southland conference rivals Sam Houston State and Houston Baptist University. They overcame the Bearkats 2-1, on Friday and shutout the Huskies 1-0 on Sunday.
“The feel of the team before the game was electric,” senior Andrea Carpenter said. “We were so pumped up and ready to go. We wanted our first conference game to be a win.”
The Wildcats went into the game with a 6-0-1 record, while the Bearkats were 2-4-1. ACU headed into halftime with no score, but came out of the second half on a mission. Senior Jacey Ferrara scored on an assist from freshman Natalie Throneberry in the 51st minute to go up by a goal. Two minutes later, Ferrara made a pass to Carpenter for another goal, pushing the score to 2-0. A late goal from Sam Houston led to the final score, 2-1.
“We talked about a couple of things at half time that we needed to fix. We knew we could win this game if we fixed what we had discussed,” Carpenter said. “After Jacey scored, we were so excited. I think we fed off that energy and kept up the pace of the game and that’s how we got the other quick goal.”
The team took on the Houston Baptist Huskies on Sunday. An early goal in the first 10 minutes by Throneberry gave the Wildcats the 1-0 lead. Solid defense from the ‘Cats and good play from freshman Sydney Newton allowed ACU to hold on to the lead and continue their run at early season dominance, pushing their record to an impressive 8-0-1. Newton had seven saves on the day, making her an essential player in the Wildcat shutout.
“The defense did a good job and Sydney made some great saves,” head coach Casey Wilson said. “Houston Baptist is a real good team and fought well the entire game. It was good for us to get that early score, considering there were a high number of close calls throughout.”
The Wildcats are 2-0 in the Southland Conference and will take on Nicholls State Sept. 27 in Thibodaux, La. Both teams are undefeated in both the Southland and own 8-0-1 records.
