Matthews, Harder Named ASC Women’s Soccer Players of the Week
9/5/2016 12:17:25 PM
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games of September 1-4, 2016
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brittany Matthews, F, Sr., Texas-Tyler
Senior forward Brittany Matthews (Whitehouse, Texas / Whitehouse HS) lifted the Patriots to a 2-1 overtime win with a goal at 93 minutes against Rhodes College. Matthews scored both goals in the win for UT Tyler after also scoring the only goal of the game in the season-opener against Hendrix.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sarah Harder, D, So., LeTourneau
Sophomore defender Sarah Harder (Pearland, Texas / Pearland HS) led the YellowJacket back line to two wins last weekend. Harder anchored the defensive effort and helped keep the back line organized. After an early goal in the 16th minute against TLU Harder helped the YellowJackets win many one-on-one defensive battles and went on to play 164 minutes of shutout soccer on the weekend
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
OFFENSIVE
Belhaven freshman midfielder Alex Trammel (Madison, Miss. / Germantown HS) scored her first collegiate goal in a 2-1 loss to Birmingham-Southern. She totaled three shots for the week in two games … Concordia Texas freshman forward Madi Timmons (Plano, Texas / Liberty HS) was impressive in her collegiate debut, scoring twice on four strong chances at the net. Her equalizer in the 60th minute gave the Tornados the momentum they needed to set her up for the game winner with eight minutes left … Howard Payne senior forward Darbi Frazier (Crandall, Texas / Crandall HS) scored the golden goal in the 104th minute in a 1-0 double overtime victory over Huston-Tillotson ...
LeTourneau senior midfielder Stephanie Vana (La Verne, Calif. / Bonita HS) was involved in every goal on the weekend. Against Texas Lutheran on Thursday, Vana was on the supplying end of two assists that gave the YellowJackets the opening night 2-1 victory. Saturday she took a penalty shot in the seventh minute placing it in the right corner of the net for the game-winning goal over Schreiner … Univ. of Ozarks senior midfielder Frances Adams (Plano, Texas / Plano HS) recorded four shots and one goal against Central Baptist College … Sul Ross State junior midfielder Maria Alatorre (El Paso, Texas / Mission Early HS) scored the Lobos’ only goal but it proved to be enough as the SRSU outpaced Univ. of Dallas in a season opening 1-0 win Saturday in Alpine. Alatorre also posted four shots-on-goal in the victory … Texas Dallas senior Megan Mugavero (Houston, Texas / Jersey Village HS) came off the bench and scored the Comets' only goal in a 2-1 home loss to La Verne Sunday in UTD's season opener. Mugavero finished the contest with a game-high five shots, two on goal.
DEFENSIVE
Belhaven freshman goalkeeper Alexis McDonald (Fort Worth, Texas / Fossil Ridge HS) made eight saves in two games, including seven in a double-overtime loss to Birmingham-Southern … Concordia Texas freshman goalkeeper Shelby Franco (Hurst, Texas / LD Bell HS) made six saves against Huston-Tillotson in her collegiate debut. One of those saves came on a penalty kick in the first half and proved to be the spark that carried over to the offensive end for the Tornados out of the intermission … Howard Payne junior goalkeeper Nicole Goodwin (Austin, Texas / Lake Travis HS) recorded 11 saves in a double overtime shutout victory of Huston-Tillotson ...
East Texas Baptist freshman goalkeeper Lexy Montgomery (Hallsvile, Texas / Hallsville HS) recorded two ties in her first career starts including a 0-0 shutout. Montgomery led the Tigers' defense in her first collegiate action in goal. In the 0-0 tie in the first match of season against Schreiner, she stopped a penalty kick in the 50th minute. She also had a save in the 41st minute just before the half. Overall had 10 saves in two matches and now has a .0.41 GAA. Montgomery had five saves in each match in 220 minutes of total play ...
Mary Hardin-Baylor senior goalkeeper Courtney Craig (Katy, Texas / Taylor HS) opened the 2016 season with three shutout halves for UMHB. She earned her first win in a 1-0 season-opening victory over Southwestern, and then played a shutout first half against Pacific Lutheran. Craig made eight saves on 19 shots faced ... McMurry freshman goalkeeper Jordyn Gregory (Abilene, Texas / Cooper HS) had seven saves in her debut for the War Hawks … Sul Ross State junior goalkeeper Ashlie Rojas (El Paso, Texas / Montwood HS) bagged eight saves as Sul Ross State claimed a 1-0 victory over University of Dallas Saturday in the first game of the season … Texas-Tyler senior defender Shelby Valdepena (Wylie, Texas / Wylie HS) helped the Patriots earn a 2-1 win over Rhodes on Sunday. Valdepena and the defensive unit allowed only three goals and 17 total shots during the first two games of the season.
AROUND THE ASC Notes submitted by ASC Sports Information Staffs
Belhaven (0-2-0) – The Blazers suffered a 3-0 loss to Centenary College to begin the season. Belhaven nearly managed a draw with Birmingham-Southern but the Panthers scored with 13 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to defeat edge Belhaven 2-1.
Concordia Texas (1-0-0) – The Tornados opened the 2016 season with a come-from-behind win against Huston-Tillotson on September 1. Concordia was due to finish the week at Southwestern, but lightning forced it to be postponed.
East Texas Baptist (0-0-2) – For the second time in as many matches this season, East Texas Baptist finished in a double overtime tie with Texas Lutheran (1-1). ETBU tied Schreiner on Thursday (0-0) in the first match of the year.
No. 17 Hardin-Simmons (0-1-0) – Pacific Lutheran's Kaylie Rozell scored in the 89th minute to stun Hardin-Simmons (1-0) in the season opener for both teams on Thursday. HSU settled in and had most of the possession the rest of the first half but Takara Mitsui had three saves to keep the Cowgirls off the board. It was HSU's first loss at home to a non-conference team since October 17, 2008 against Southwestern.
Howard Payne (2-0-0) – Darby Frazier scored the golden goal in the 104th minute in a 1-0 double overtime victory over Huston-Tillotson on Saturday afternoon. The victory improves the Lady Jackets to 2-0 to start the season under new head coach Brandon Badgeley. It is the first time the HPU women's soccer team has ever started the regular season 2-0. Despite being outshot by Huston-Tillotson 17-10 overall and 11-5 in shots on goal, Howard Payne got great goal play from starting keeper Nicole Goodwin. She played the entire match in goal recording 11 saves. Frazier's goal in the 104th minute was her only shot on the match. Rachel Crane led HPU with four total shots, two on goal followed by Kaitlyn Harrison with two shots.
LeTourneau (2-0-0) – LeTourneau started the season 2-0 for the first time since 2002. On Thursday, freshman Melanie Shempert scored her first career goal to tie the game against Texas Lutheran. In the 62nd minute, junior JoLynn O'Kelley came off the bench to score the game-winning goal. Senior Stephanie Vana assisted on both goals in the victory. The second win came against Schreiner when Vana stepped to the penalty spot to put home a PK in the 7th minute and that proved to be enough for the 1-0 win. Senior goalkeeper Brittany Hollis had six saves and her first career shutout.
Louisiana College (0-1-2) – One day after suffering a 5-0 defeat to Centenary (La.), the Wildcats took on Millsaps. Although they were not able to pick up their first win of the year, LC did score their first two goals and earned a 2-2 draw against the Majors. The Wildcats finished their second 110 minute match in the span of just a few days with a draw and move to 0-1-2 on the season. The Lady Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday night back at Wildcat Field when they take on Delta State starting at 5:00 p.m.
Mary-Hardin-Baylor (1-1-0) – The Cru went 1-1 over the week with a 1-0 win over Southwestern and a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Pacific Lutheran. Kat Parker scored the game-winning goal against Southwestern while Amanda Carlough converted a penalty kick against Pacific Lutheran. UMHB returns to action Tuesday against Austin College at the Cru Sports Plex in Belton.
McMurry (0-1-0) – McMurry had a rough go of things in its season-opening match, falling at the University of St. Thomas, 10-0, at the Houston Sports Park. Freshman goalkeeper Jordyn Gregory – a former Cooper High School Cougar – had 11 saves in the contest, as the Celts launched a total of 38 shots (21 of which were on-goal). Gregory was charged with all 10 goals against the War Hawks.
Univ. of Ozarks (1-1-0) – Ozarks opened the season 1-1-0 under second-year head coach Natalie Dryer. The Eagles dominated Central Baptist (4-0) on September 1 with all four goals from different players. The Eagles led 1-0 at the half, but scored three times in the second half to put the match out of reach. Frances Adams, Micaela Winters, Falon Hanson and Madison Chaney were the goal scorers for Ozarks. The Eagles dropped its match against Fontbonne on September 2. Ozarks will hit the road for five consecutive matches beginning with Hendrix College September 6.
Sul Ross State (1-0-0) – Maria Alatorre nailed an unassisted goal at the 9:03 mark, first half, as the Sul Ross women's soccer team went on to secure a 1-0 season opening victory over visiting University of Dallas on Saturday. Saturday's game was delayed just 30 seconds into the contest due to lighting. Both teams tallied ten shots with eight shots-on-goal. Alatorre posted four shots-on-goal for the Lady Lobos. Defensively Ashlie Rojas supplied eight saves from the net. Sul Ross starts the season on a positive note at 1-0 while Dallas drops to 0-2.
Texas Dallas (0-1-0) – The Comets opened the season Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to La Verne. UTD returns to action Monday night as the Comets host St. Thomas (MN), before playing host to Carroll (WI) and Chapman (CA) over the weekend.
No. 22 Texas-Tyler (1-1-0) – The Patriots opened the season with a 2-1 overtime win at Rhodes College after falling by a goal at Hendrix in the season opener. UT Tyler's win came in overtime with Brittany Matthews delivering the game-winning goal three minutes into the extra session. The Patriots will open the home part of its season at 7:00 p.m. on Friday against Southwestern in Tyler.