CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M women's soccer team won its seventh consecutive match for the first time since 2006 as they defeated Texas Woman's 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at The Pitch. Kaitlin Steele and Alejandra Dockery scored in the second half to ensure that WT would stay atop the Lone Star Conference standings with Texas A&M-Commerce. With the win, The Lady Buffs improve to 10-4 and 8-2 in LSC play while the Pioneers fall to 8-7-1 (4-6).
"We struggled a little bit today but we were able to still get a win," said WT women's soccer head coach Chad Webb. "I think we were a little physically, mentally and emotionally tired from Friday's match. We played a little better in the second half and you have to applaud the goals we scored as they were the result of our players hustling down the field."
The first half was the definition of a defensive battle as both teams had only one shot on goal. The Lady Buffs best chance came at 27:36 when Gabby Wolf saw her shot from inside the penalty box go off the crossbar. The freshman forward did well to control a long ball before turning to her right and getting a low shot off.
The Lady Buffs finished the first half with a 6-1 advantage in shots.
Steele put WT ahead just three minutes into the second half when she muscled her way past two Pioneer defenders to score. The Andrews, Texas native hustled to get on the end of a loose ball at the right post after Samantha Jimenez was unable to cleanly handle a shot from Khadira Debesette giving the Lady Buffs a 1-0 lead.
Steele nearly doubled the Lady Buffs advantage in the 65th minute on a chip shot from just inside the penalty area but her shot went off the crossbar. They didn't have to wait much longer after the shot from Steele to add to their lead as Dockery scored her first career goal at 70:19. Dockery was in the right place at the right time as the El Paso, Texas native pounced on Khadisha Debesette's shot that rang off the cross bar to give WT some breathing room.
The Lady Buffs outshot the Pioneers 15-3 in regulation while also holding a 4-3 advantage in corners.
Sophomore goalkeeper Courtney Dippel picked up her third in the past four matches making one save. The Belton, Texas native now ranks seventh in career shutouts with seven.
WT will hit the road one final time during the 2016 regular season with a match against rival Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday, Oct. 26 before returning home for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 30 at The Pitch.
NOTES:
· With the win, the Lady Buffs lead the all-time series 15-4-2 including a 10-0-0 record at home.
· The Lady Buffs last won seven matches back in 2006 when they opened the season 8-0-0.
· Kaitlin Steele had a match-high four shots.
· The Lady Buffs are a perfect 7-0-0 in October.
· WT is 5-0-0 when they score two goals in a match.
· The Lady Buffs are now 3-2-0 when tied at half time.
