SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Marlene van Mourik's second half penalty lifted the Lady Buffs to a 1-0 victory over St. Mary's in a Lone Star Conference matchup on Friday afternoon at Sigma Beta Chi Field in San Antonio. The win ends a four-game road losing streak and improves them to 6-6-0 overall and 5-3-0 in LSC play.
With the wind at their back, WT were unlucky to go ahead in the first half after outshooting the Rattlers 11-1 during the opening 45 minutes. Hannah Kelley-Lusk and Shanelle Arjoon caused the StMU backline problems combing for six shots, including three on-target but were unable to get their name on the scoresheet.
The Lady Buffs spent the early minutes of the second half defending before finally going ahead in the 61st minute when they were awarded a penalty after Samantha Silvestre was taken down in the area. van Mourik confidently sent the ball into the bottom left corner for her first goal since Nov. 1, 2017. It was also WT's first goal on the road since their season opener against CSU-Pueblo.
WT nearly doubled their advantage in the 83rd minute but Alex Jurado's shot ricocheted off the post and away from goal. Jessica Diaz beat her defender down the left side to put a shot near post that was pushed out by StMU's Erin Longford with Jurado sending the rebound off the crossbar.
Daniela Estrada made one of her two saves in the 86th minute on a shot from the Rattler's Alexia Maldonado. The junior keeper pushed the ball out of bounds for a corner on Maldonado's shot to the near post from the top of the penalty area.
Kelley-Lusk finished the game with a season-high seven shots as the Lady Buffs outshot StMU 21-10. Estrada finished with two saves to pick up her second career shutout.
WT faces off against Texas A&M International on Saturday, Oct. 26. in Laredo. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Dustdevil Soccer Field.
