Patriots dominate conference openers

Leah Solomon (far right) gets her first goal of the season on her only shot agaisnst Louisiana College Saturday morning. The Patriots soundly defeated the Wildcats 9-0. Photo by Clay Ihlo.

BULLARD - When the University women’s soccer team played the Lady Wildcats from Louisiana College Saturday morning, it was a classic game where fundamentals met kickball, as the Patriots pummeled the Wildcats 9-0.

The Patriots opened up conference play with a 4-1 win against Mississippi College at Herrington Field in Bullard on Thursday. Both Thursday and Saturday’s games were moved to Herrington Field on the Brook Hill campus in Bullard. Citizen’s 1st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex at UT-Tyler was deemed unplayable because of recent rain.

From start to finish, the Patriots played with heavy and constant pressure all over the field and managed to get the Lady Wildcats on the ropes early. In the 9th minute,  Analiz Medina stole the ball in midfield and managed to set up Alina Kilkenny-Deavilla for the score. Shortly after the Patriots got on the board, Ashley Crawford sent a long pass to Lauren Thomas for the Patriots’ second score.

Coach Stephanie Webb said after the game was not surprised at all by the fundamental soundness or distribution of the ball. “We moved the ball really well,” Webb said.

“We are working hard to be really clean with our game.” Kilkenny-Deavilla proved just that when she assisted Leah Solomon for her first goal of the season. Solomom later got help from Kasey Kemp, partnered by Brenda Salinas, to extend the lead to three in the 29th minute.

Just before the half ended, Summer Werner started another assault on the Wildcat’s end of the field, which ended with Kendall Kramer scoring off a Malone cross pass to give the Patriots a 5-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, the Patriots picked up their fundamental attack right where they left off, as the Wildcat’s defense had no effective way to slow the attack down other than kicking the ball as far away from their goal.

However, the Patriots kept finding their way into the heart of the Wildcat defense. In the 47th minute, Chelsea Fiscus banged in a goal off the left post.
A few minutes later, DeAvilla broke away with what looked to be her second goal of the game, only for the ball to die in the hands of the Wildcats keeper.

She would come back in the 67th minute to capitalize for the goal, as she shot a low ball past the keeper, who was growing numb to the sight. Sophomore Emily Bechdol added her name to the list of goal scorers as she notched her first goal of the season. Bechdol was later joined by Malone, who scored after a Wildcats defender failed to clear the ball from the penalty area.

Bechdol tallied another goal to her name when she sent a rocketing ball into the upper 90, making the final score a blistering 9-0. The Patriots set a new school record by taking 54 shots during the game. 41 of those were on goal. Bechdol lead the Patriots with eight shots. Seven were on goal. Brenda Salinas and Deavilla each had five shots each in the game.

Throughout the second half, the Patriots were willing and able to empty their bench due to the large lead. Webb said it was a good time to get in young players who needed game time experience This game served as real good tune up for all the players as they prepare to take their offensive game on the road to face Hardin-Simmons next Friday in Abilene, where the two undefeated teams in conference will square off.

“This year, we are only worried about ourselves,” Webb said. “We are finished worrying about the play of our opponents. As a team we are convinced that the only team that can beat us will be ourselves.” The Patriots now have an overall record of 4-2, and a conference record of 2-0.