The Wildcats met the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley Thursday night in Edinburg and Lamar Saturday afternoon in Beaumont for the last weekend series of the regular season.
First, ACU took a devastating loss against UTRGV, resulting in a score of 1-2.
The last time the Wildcats and Vaqueros met, ACU secured the win in overtime, 3-2. UTRGV and ACU have been close competitors, with the past three matchups ending in a one-difference score.
Early into the game, the Vaqueros wasted no time to get on the board. They scored twice within the first 18 minutes of the game.
The Wildcats went scoreless in the first period, but 24 minutes into the second period, Alyssia Anuat, a senior defender from San Diego, California was given the ball, where she secured it in the net to put ACU on the board. Yet, this drew us to the final score of 2-1.
UTRGV led in shot attempts 12-11, while ACU led in corner kicks 9-5.
Then Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats traveled to meet Lamar, where they fell a close game in two overtimes, 0-1.
Both teams went scoreless for 106 minutes, but in the second overtime, Lamar was able to sink it in the right side of the net for the game-winner.
Despite the lack of goals, the Wildcats led in shot attempts, 18-12, and shots on goal, 10-6. This game was high intensity, where 21 total fouls occurred, including four yellow cards and a single red card.
The Wildcats ended their 2021 season with an overall record of 6-9-1. They secured their first WAC conference record of 4-5-1.
ACU played big-name schools this season including the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Texas State, and North Texas. This kind of competition prepared them to be successful in long, challenging games like Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
ACU tallied a total of 243 shot attempts, with 94 shots on goal. This led the Wildcats to a total of 20 goals throughout 16 games.
Natalie Jones, a junior midfielder from Lubbock, led the Wildcats in goals with four, while Chayse Thorn, a freshman defender from Rowlett, and Caylen Wright, a junior forward from Joshua, were close behind with three.
Natalie Wodka, a senior defender from Allen, and Christina Arteaga, a senior forward from Pflugerville, led the team with a combined shot on goal record of 27.
ACU has 10 seniors graduating from this program that made them this successful. The seniors include Ellen Joss, a defender from Louisville, Kentucky, Arteaga, Wodka, Emily Heidman, a defender from Rowlett, Megan Paul, a midfielder from Wylie, Anuat, Laura Mauldin, a forward from McKinney, and Maddy Cardinal, a midfielder from Metamora, Michigan.
The Wildcats will now head into the offseason to prepare for the 2022 season.
Head coach Casey Wilson and players were not made available for interviews following their weekend matchups.
