Cowgirls bully past Patriots

Kendall Kramer consoles Lauren Dailey after losing the ASC champtionship on Sunday. Photo by Clay Ihlo

ABILENE-The University's women's soccer team failed toovercome a two-goal halftime deficit and fell 4-1 to Hardin-Simmons in the championship game of the American Southwest Conference tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The win for the Cowgirls clinched their eighth straight ASC title.

The Patriots defended against a steady wind in the first half. Ten minutes into the contest, Hardin-Simmons scored following a corner kick. The initial shot was deflected, but Erin Low's shot found its way into the net.

The Cowgirls continued to take advantage of the wind and took shot after shot. One shot ricocheted off the left upright. The Patriots made another big defensive stop several minutes later as well.

Katie Kuykendall, however, knocked one past Patriots' goalkeeper Morgan Dux with a perfect shot to the bottom left-hand side of the goal to give the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead.

The Patriots fought back in the following minutes and moved the ball into Cowgirl territory, and in the 28th minute scored their only goal of the game. Leah Solomon scored on an assist by Analiz Medina.

Hardin-Simmons wasted no time in getting the goal back, and in minute 34 Kuykendall scored. The Patriots' bench argued that Dux had been fouled on the play, but the goal stood.

In the second half, the Patriots tried to take advantage of the wind but failed to get a shot by Hardin-Simmons goalkeeper Macy Hurley.

Several shots found their way toward the goal. Kendall Kramer's shot with 39 minutes left to play missed high. The Patriots continued to pressure offensively but to no avail.

Patriots Analiz Medina (13) Kasey Kemp (12) surround Hardin-Simmons Cowgirl Erin Low. Photo by Clay Ihlo

The Cowgirls final goal came with less than three minutes to play. Amy Kuykendall received a penalty kick after a foul by Lauren Pate inside the box. Dux jumped right, and Kuykendall's shot went left.

Hardin-Simmons kicked it into survival mode and finished out the game for the conference championship.

"I felt like two of their goals were a direct result of the wind," Coach Stefani Webb said. "We had a lot of opportunities in the second half, and they were wind-related as well."

The Cowgirls outshot the Patriots 17-2 in the first half, but were outshot 10-2 in the second half.

Webb said she believes her players were nervous and played too reservedly at the beginning.

Saturday
The Patriots made their way into the championship game by defeating The University of Texas at Dallas 2-0 on Saturday afternoon in the semi-final round of the tournament.

The Patriots scored their first goal in the 15th minute of the contest. Analiz Medina took control of the ball and moved it to the middle of the field where she found Kendall Kramer, who knocked in the Patriots' first goal of the game.

Several minutes after the goal, Coach Stefani Webb made substitutions and by the 33rd minute, most of the Patriots' starters were out of the game.

The Comets had an opportunity to tie the game with less than 10 minutes left in the first half. Their shots, however, missed wide of the goal or were deflected.

The Patriots regained possession several minutes later and almost added a goal to their score. Kathryn Haag's shot hit the crossbar from nearly 15-yards away.

With two minutes remaining, Comets' goalkeeper Andrea Jones saved a header that came within inches of giving the Patriots a score.

In the second half, the Patriots wasted no time adding their second score. Lauren Thomas' corner kick four minutes into the second half found Medina, who knocked it past Jones to all but seal the Patriots' victory.

The Patriots continued to pressure offensively. Webb made four substitutions with 17 minutes left for the final push to victory, and the Patriots responded by making three stops defensively to close out the game.

"The girls stuck to the game plan and played their hearts out," Webb said. "We kept our composure. We were confident in our plan, and we went out, and we played."

Webb said the team had not allowed a goal on the road all season, and knew after the second goal her team would not allow three in one half.
The Patriots finish the season 15-4, and lose 12 seniors to graduation.

"I told (the Seniors) we really were terrible when they got here," Webb said. "They're my kids ... I'm going to miss them."

Kristen Chockley, Medina and Kramer were named to the All-Tournament team.

Katie Kuykendall of Hardin-Simmons was named the Most Valuable Player.