CANYON, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Women's Soccer (4-5-3, 3-3-2 LSC) produced a strong defensive performance along with a second straight hat trick by
Riley Sims to knock off previously unbeaten No. 8 Midwestern State Wednesday night at The Pitch by score of 3-1. Sims produced another blazing fast hat trick with it occurring in 17 minutes.
The Lady Buffs offense wasted little time getting on the board for the second straight game as they scored in the 5th minute. With control in their attacking zone,
Charo Rodriguez Fortea delivered a great ball into the box as an opportunity presented itself.
Riley Sims made a great run on the backdoor and put her right foot on the ball before it landed. That shot snuck by the Mustangs keeper and into the back of the net for the early 1-0 Lady Buff lead. WT continued to pressure the MSU's defense with two shots (one on goal) and a corner kick through the next seven minutes. On the corner kick, the ball would land in the box and in a scramble, a Mustang put their hand on it for what looked to be a handball. That play would be reviewed minutes later and ultimately led to a penalty kick for the Lady Buffs. The hot foot in Sims, who had scored five goals in the past three games, stepped up for the momentous chance. The Harker Heights, Texas native went bottom left corner on her shot and doubled the lead for WT with her second goal. West Texas A&M did not let off the gas as they put goal number three on the board in the 17th minute. After a misplay by Midwestern State's keeper, a scrum occurred in the box between Sims and multiple Mustangs defenders. Sims would come out with possession of the ball and maneuvered her way around the defense deep in the box. With her left foot, she would rainbow a shot over two defenders as she threw her hat for the second straight game to give WT a 3-0 lead. The No. 8 team in the country did not go away without a fight as they scored a counterattack goal in the 26th minute to make it 3-1. The Lady Buffs would not be fazed and continued to apply offensive pressure to the end the half. That 3-1 lead would hold going into halftime.
Out of the break, the Lady Buffs defense, who had a solid first half, stepped up and continued to make plays with MSU applying more pressure. The backline would negate a plethora of opportunities with consistent clearances while any shot that got by would be denied by
Franciezca Blancaflor. Sims nearly found her fourth goal of the match in the 58th minute as one of her shots in the box went off the crossbar. WT's defense continued to thrive late in the game as they limited Midwestern State's offense to just two shots on goal in the final 27 minutes. Blancaflor was stellar saving both of those shots along with picking off and punching out crossing passes. With a great crowd behind them providing constant energy at The Pitch, West Texas A&M would knock off No. 8 Midwestern State by score of 3-1 in a signature win for the Lady Buffs.
Top Lady Buffs
- Riley Sims scored her fifth, sixth, and seventh goals of the season. She is up to 14 points to lead the team. Sims landed four of her five shots on goal in her 68 minutes. This was Sims' second straight game with a hat trick, the first player in the game-by-game era (2011+) to do so. She is the third player to record multiple hat tricks in a season in the game-by-game era as she joined All-Americans Maria-Frances Serrant (2022) and Hannah Kelley-Lusk (2021). The Harker Heights, Texas native became the fifth player in program history with multiple hat tricks in a career.
- Franciezca Blancaflor started in goal and compiled nine saves in all 90 minutes. This was Blancaflor's second game this season with 9+ saves.
- Charo Rodriguez Fortea tallied her first career point as a Lady Buff with an assist. She also played all 90 minutes for the third time this season.
Buffalo Bits
- West Texas A&M is now 26-26-3 all-time against Midwestern State and snapped their four-game losing streak.
- The Lady Buffs led the game in saves (9-5) and corner kicks (7-5).
- This was WT's first win over a ranked opponent since they beat No. 22 Angelo State in 2022. This is their highest ranked win since they beat No. 3 UC-Colorado Springs in 2018.
- Braely Martinez landed all three of her shots on goal in 75 minutes. This was her second game with 3+ shots on goal this season.
- Rozlyn Rumsey, Ryann Davis, and Mollie Ferro all played 90 minutes. This was Rumsey's third game, Davis' ninth and Ferro's fourth game playing the whole game. Ferro also added one shot.
- Naya Megnin and Bailee Ramirez each compiled one shot. Ramirez landed hers on goal.
- Sienna Hurrell, Sara Soto, and Jade Martinez all exceeded 77+ minutes with 77, 78, and 84 minutes respectively.
Up Next
West Texas A&M will be back in action on Saturday, October 10 as they travel to UT Tyler. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
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