The soccer team will be playing two of its three final away games to close the season this weekend as they travel to face Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston.
The Wildcats sit second in the Southland Conference with a 6-1-1 conference record, while SFA is in third with a 6-2-0 conference record. The winner of the match will be in second under Central Arkansas.
“We’ve always struggled against SFA in the past but this year I think we have the team to execute what needs to be done on the field to come away with a win,” said junior defender Chantal Kinsey. “The atmosphere is going to be intense because we are both extremely competitive teams with a lot at stake. As long as we play our game and stay composed, we will be fine.”
Heading into the weekend matches, senior defender Kelsie Roberts leads the team in goals with four and was also named Southland Conference defender of week for the second time this season.
Senior Kelsie Roberts had not scored a goal in her career before scoring against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi early this season. Roberts now leads the team in goals with four. (Photo by Lauren Franco)
Junior midfielder Chloe Fifer still leads the team in assists with seven and also leads the team in points with 13.
Senior goalkeeper Sydney Newton will be clear to play this Friday after suffering a head injury Sunday at McNeese. She has made 64 saves and has also put up five conference shoutouts this season.
“We need to win from here on out, simple as that,” said junior forward Megan Baer. “We are in a great position to beat them and make ACU soccer history. I’m anticipating it being a pretty good turn out this Friday night. The game is going to be aired on ESPN3, plus it’s the second place team versus the third place team. We have a lot of momentum right now and I personally can’t wait to play in such an exciting game against a good team.”
For SFA, junior forward Hanna Barker has had an incredible season leading the team in goals with eight, assists with seven, and points with 23.
Senior goalkeeper Lille Ehlert has put up a 9-3-0 record overall this season and has made 51 saves with a .93 goals against average.
For Sam Houston, senior forward Allie Johnson leads her team in goals with six while senior forward Madison Cannon leads the team in assists with three.
Freshman goalkeeper Anna Kaiser has made 79 saves this year and has a goals against average of 3.47.
“We’ve focused on just building on our game week after week and continuing to get better,” said Kinsey. “In practices we have worked on transitions and switching the ball.”
The Wildcats (6-1-1, 7-7-2) are scheduled to face SFA (6-2-0, 9-4-0) in Nacogdoches Friday and Sam Houston (2-5-1, 2-13-1) in Huntsville on Sunday. ACU is in a similar situation as last season, when they finished third in the conference after tying with SHSU in double overtime and falling to SFA 2-0.
