The Wildcats struck first against the number three ranked team in the nation, but suffered a 4-1 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station on Saturday night. ACU moves to 1-4-1 while TAMU improves to 5-1-0.
Junior goal keeper Syndey Newton set the new ACU women’s soccer record with 14 saves in the match, passing the previous record of 11 set by Allison Egan (Oct. 3, 2007 vs. Midwestern State) and Elliott London (Oct. 16, 2011 vs. Angelo State and Nov. 13, 2011 vs. Midwestern State). Newton saves 14 of the 19 shots on goal that TAMU put up and saw a total of 31 shots come her way, the highest ACU has given up since the program’s first year in 2007.
For Newton, the match against TAMU was just her second of the season. She got the call after starting junior goal keeper Kelsey Dombrowski sustained a head injury in her last game against North Texas.
“She played great and showed quite a bit of athleticism with some of the saves she made,” head coach Casey Wilson said.
ACU took the lead on a converted penalty kick by sophomore Chantal Kinsey in the 17th minute. The Aggies would respond two minutes later with a score off the right elbow of the six-yard box, making it 1-1 in the 19th minute. The Wildcats would head into halftime tied with third best team in the nation.
“We really played tough the first half and with a good amount of composure against a great team,” Wilson said. “It really shows how capable we can be at times. We just need to do it longer.”
Sophomore Haley Pounds of TAMU would take over in the second half. The forward recorded a hat-trick in the second half, sending ACU home with the loss. Pounds found the back of the box from four-yards out in the 58th minute to go up 2-1. Two converted penalty kicks by Pounds in the 67th and 70th minutes put the Wildcats down by a wide margin late in the game.
The Wildcats were outshot, 31-6, and had fewer shots on goal, 19-2. Freshman Sophie Standifer was the only other Wildcat to put up a shot on goal.
ACU will travel to Fort Worth to face the Texas Christian Hornedfrogs (3-3-0) on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
