Box Score
 
Season Statistics
 
CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buff soccer team dropped a key LSC contest to the rival Zias of Eastern New Mexico, 1-0, on Friday night at The Pitch. An early free kick goal by Melissa Moxley would be enough to give the Zias (5-4, 2-1 LSC) the win, despite a late second half offensive surge by WT, which now falls to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
 
The first half of Friday night's contest started very slow offensively for both sides. Play remained slow and centered around the midfield through the first 10 minutes of action. The Zias were finally able to pressure WT starting in the 12^th minute after being awarded back-to-back corner kicks. Both were taken Moxley from the right corner but the visitors were unable to place a shot-on-goal from either attempt.
 
ENMU finally took the game's first shot in the 17^th minute, a strike from Victoria Perez from outside the box which would be stopped by WT sophomore keeper Nicole Kemper, making her second start of the season for the Lady Buffs.
 
The Zias nearly took the lead in the 25^th minute as Alyssa Prince broke free off a misplayed ball by the WT defense just inside their attacking zone. The Lady Buffs would recover quickly though to clear the ball out of play.
 
Moxley would put the Zias up on the scoreboard early; however, with a perfectly placed free kick. After a WT foul from about 30 yards out near the far right wing in the 32^nd minute, Moxley took the kick and sank the game-winning score in over Kemper's reach for her second goal of the season.
 
The Lady Buffs responded with a couple of good shot attempts from right around the 18-yard box, both being sent just high of the crossbar off the feet of juniors Haley Girard and Dominique Premac in the 33^rd and 35^th minutes, respectively.
 
The Zias led in shots at the break, 4-3, and also held the advantage in shots-on-goal, 4-0.
 
Though the visitors controlled possession for much of the first 15 minutes of the second frame, WT did have one close scoring chance in the 50^th minute. After ENMU was called for a foul from 20 yards out, senior Rhea Belgrave took a shot splitting the Zias' defensive wall. ENMU keeper Fabienne Wilson stepped in for the save but bobbled the ball in front of the goal line. She would quickly recover though as three WT attackers were trailing in for the rebound.
 
WT would be able to put together a consistent attack starting around the 65^th minute. Senior Jessie Thomas created some great opportunities maneuvering around defenders along the right goal line. On two occasions in the 67^th and 70^th minutes she would send in clean crosses in front of the goal but timing would be slightly off with her fellow Lady Buff attackers as the ENMU defense was able to clear the ball out of play.
 
The Lady Buffs would have one last solid chance in the 81^st minute as Thomas was dragged down from 20 yards out, resulting in a yellow card on Breanna Atencio. Sophomore Karyn Forbes took the free kick for WT which was blocked by the ENMU defense. Sophomore McKylie Calligan then picked up the rebound from the far left wing and sent a strike that sailed just wide of the right post.
 
Both teams were knotted at nine shots apiece when all was said and done; however, ENMU held the 6-3 shots-on-goal advantage. Leading the way offensively for WT was Premac with three attempts while six others contributed one shot each. Kemper received her first loss and falls to 1-1 after her second start in goal for WT. She picked up five saves tonight while playing the entire 90 minutes. Wilson grabbed the win for ENMU and improves to 3-1 after picking up three saves and allowing no goals.
 
With the loss, WT now falls to 10-5-1 all-time against the Zias and is winless in the previous three meetings. The two teams will meet again this season on Friday, Oct. 17 in Portales, N.M. for a 4 p.m. (CT) kickoff.
 
The Lady Buffs will return to the pitch next Monday, Oct. 6, as they host Southern Nazarene in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live stats and a free video webstream will be available courtesy of West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations. Links can be found on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the women's soccer schedule page.