CANYON, Texas – Freshman forward Gabby Wolf's first half goal was the difference as the Lady Buffs defeated UT Permian Basin 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at The Pitch. The Lady Buffs dominated play for most of the first half before holding off a late rally from the Falcons. With the win, the Lady Buffs improve to 4-4-0, 2-2-0 in Lone Star Conference Play while UTPB drops to 0-7-1 (0-4-0).
 
"We were missing some players today so that changed our formation a little today," said WT women's head soccer coach Chad Webb. "The buildup up play between Ronni, Marlene and Gabby was the best sequence in the match for us. We struggled a little bit more than I would have liked in the second half as we allowed them chances to equalize."
 
Freshman forward Gabby Wolf scored her first career goal to give the Lady Buffs a 1-0 lead at 6:39 in the first half. Marlene van Mourik was credited with the assist after timing her run perfectly on a through ball from Ronni Ajeto. Van Mourik then proceeded to cut into the box before finding a wide open Wolf in front of the net.
 
"It felt really good to get that first goal," Wolf said when talking about her goal. "Marlene gave me a really good assist and it started with Ronni. All of the freshman worked really good together and we got a good finish out of it."
 
After taking the lead, WT controlled position for most of the first half finishing with a 11 shots, five of those being on goal. Ashlee Craig, Brady Prescott and van Mourik all had chances to double the lead in the first 45 but couldn't find the back of the net.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Ellen Walgren made two crucial saves in her first career start with the first coming right after the break. UTPB's Kessie Stocker had a nice look at goal at 51:58 but Walgren was up for the task. The second save came at 76:24 off a corner kick. After struggling to handle the cross the Grapevine, Texas native quickly jumped on the ball stopping any chance of a UTPB player of scoring.
 
The Lady Buffs finished the match with 17 shots compared to UTPB's seven and took six corners.
 
Walgren earned a shutout in her first career start making four saves.
 
The Lady Buffs have a quick turnaround as they host rival Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. at The Pitch. Live stats, video and ticket information can be found at GoBuffsGo.com under the women's soccer schedule.
 
NOTES:

• With the win, the Lady Buffs now lead the all-time series 13-0-0.
• Freshman players have scored seven of WT's 12 goals this season.
• Marlene van Mourik is now tied with Alejandra Dockery and Katelyn Taschler for the team lead in assists with two.
• WT is now a perfect 2-0-0 when leading by one goal at halftime.
• WT improved to 1-2-0 when they outshoot their opponent.
• The Lady Buffs are now 2-2-0 following a loss.