Box Score / Season Statistics

At Texas A&M-Commerce 9-28-14 (Live Stats / Tickets)
 
Lady Buff Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – After grabbing the early first-half lead in Denton on Friday night, the West Texas A&M women's soccer team gave up two second-half goals, including a late score in the 85^th minute, to fall to Texas Woman's 2-1 in both teams' Lone Star Conference opening match. The Lady Buffs now fall to 3-5 (0-1 LSC) with the loss while the Pioneers improve to 6-1 and 1-0 in league play.
 
Senior Jessie Thomas scored her first goal of the season on Friday night after missing the previous two matches. Her goal gave WT an early first half lead which it carried on into the second frame before TWU was able to tie the game up in the 62^nd minute. The Pioneers then tallied the late score in the 85^th minute to secure the win.
 
The Pioneers doubled up the Lady Buffs in shots for the match, 14-7. They also held a slight edge in shots-on-goal, 5-3. WT took two corners compared to TWU's one.
 
Freshman McKynzie Zick was tested right off the bat in the Lady Buffs' conference opener on Friday night. She was forced to make her first stop just 19 seconds in off a shot by Rachel Rupp. Outside of another TWU shot attempt in the first 10 minutes, the first half hour of the match was relatively quiet with neither team able to create any real scoring opportunities.
 
The Lady Buffs were finally able to lay down some pressure on the home team after the 30 minute mark. Junior Emily Krenek, WT's leading goal-scorer, ripped a shot into the crossbar at the 32:21 point. Less than 60 seconds later, in the 34^th minute, senior Jessie Thomas would chip in the go-ahead score to give WT the 1-0 lead. It would be Thomas's first goal of the season after leading the team in goals a year ago with eight.
 
Sophomore Kaitlin Steele and senior Rhea Belgrave would also gather attempts on toward the net in the ensuing 10 minutes. TWU keeper and reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week Ariana Morrison would stop the first in the 35^th minute while the second attempt would sail wide.
 
The Pioneers would also create a couple shots in the final two minutes of the first frame off the feet of Kailey Tue and Megan Coppedge but neither would find the mark.
 
Both WT and TWU found themselves even in shots at the break with four apiece while WT held the shots-on-goal advantage, 2-1. Morrison and Zick each tallied a save in the half.
 
The Lady Buffs played some solid defense in the opening minutes of the second frame as they were tasked with shutting down one the LSC's most dynamic scorers thus far, reigning Offensive Player of the Week, Natalia Diaz. She would grab four quick shots, with a few being blocked before Zick made an impressive stop in the 53^rd minute.
 
TWU would finally find the equalizer at the 61:13 mark of the second half. A free kick was awarded to the Pioneers after a Lady Buff handball the play before, setting up Madison Purdy who sank the shot to knot the match at 1-1. It would be her first goal of the season for the Pioneers.
 
Just two minutes later, the Pioneers nearly grabbed a second goal as Bobbi Gutierrez hit the right post on a shot inside the 18-yard box. Diaz immediately scooped up the rebound and made an attempt at the goal but the Lady Buff backline came up with the block and clear to end the threat.
 
The Pioneers then picked up the game-winner at the 84:16 mark to hand the Lady Buffs the loss in their LSC opener. Emily Davila found the net for her second score of the season and was assisted by Coppedge.
 
Belgrave and Krenek would both lead the Lady Buffs with two shots apiece. Zick finished with three saves as she took the loss.
 
TWU set a new facility attendance record in tonight's contest with 523 fans.
 
The Lady Buffs are now 11-3-2 all-time against the Pioneers.
 
WT will return to action on Sunday with another road LSC matchup against Texas A&M-Commerce. Kickoff is set for noon. Live stats will be provided for the match. Links can be found at the top of the page or on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the women's soccer schedule page.
 
TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE AT A GLANCE: TAMUC has started off strong this season as well as it currently owns a 6-2 overall record. After starting off the year with back-to-back wins over UC-Colorado Springs and St. Mary's they suffered a 2-0 loss to No. 20 Columbus State. The Lions then pulled off a major 2-0 upset win over No. 2 West Florida. Since then, TAMUC has recorded wins over Dallas Baptist and Ouachita Baptist while dropping a close 1-0 decision to No. 18 St. Edward's. The Lions begin LSC play with a 1-0 league record after defeating Eastern New Mexico tonight, 3-1.
 
WT is 18-10-2 all-time against the Lions. Last season, both teams played to a scoreless draw in Canyon on Sept. 29 while the Lady Buffs earned a 3-1 victory on Nov. 1 in Commerce.