6 | Thursday November 1, 2012 | The University Star
SPORTS
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SOCCER
Texas State must defeat Idaho or go home in team’s first, final WAC Tournament By Odus Evbagharu Sports Reporter The Texas State soccer team is entering Utah determined to capture a WAC championship and make the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons. The Bobcats were able to clinch the overall No. 3 seed in the conference tournament this past Sunday with a 1-0 win over their Interstate 35 rival University of Texas at San Antonio. The shutout marked their second in three games and the fifth overall for the season. Coach Kat Conner and the teammates look to keep the energy going into tournament play. “Ultimately, this was a postseason game because it was win or go home,” Conner said. “The players are going to be jazzed to have the momentum and start their run again of win or go home, and we want to keep it going.” The Bobcats will play the University of Idaho, which gained the sixth seed by beating New Mexico State University 3-1 this past weekend. The Vandals are led by Chelsea Small, the WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Small, a senior forward, scored Idaho’s lone goal in a meeting earlier this year against the Bobcats. She ended conference play by finishing in the top five in six categories, including shots, shots per game, points, points per game, goals and goals per game. She ended the regular season tied for first with four game winning goals. The Vandals as a team finished in the top five in major statistical categories such as
goals (23), assists (23) and points (67) accumulated this season. However, the team finished last in goals given up this year with its opponents scoring 45 times in 20 games played. Its opposition scored on average 2.19 times a game, which ranks 294 out of 321 Division 1 soccer teams and is last in conference. Bobcat junior goalkeeper Natalie Gardini knows, however, Idaho is a formidable foe. “We (Texas State) are looking forward to everyone coming out and playing their best soccer,” Gardini said. “We want to put up a good result against them knowing that we beat them earlier this year, and they want payback.” Texas State opened up conference play by taking on the Vandals Sept. 28 at the Bobcat Soccer Complex. The team won its WAC opener 2-1 on late goals scored by freshman forward Lynsey Curry and sophomore midfielder Tori Hale. Idaho had a 1-0 lead with nine minutes left to play in the match. However, Hale struck with the equalizer in the 81st minute, and Curry scored the gamewinner in the 84th to seal the match. Senior defender Emma Staley knows Idaho is seeking some retribution after losing the match late. “I definitely think they want some revenge,” Staley said. “But I also definitely think that we have grown as a team. They were our first WAC team, and so I think we have gotten our stuff together. We’ll be ready. Both teams want to win, and I think it’s going to be a good game.” The Bobcats finished the WAC season with a 4-4-0 record, which was good enough
to earn a berth in the conference tournament. Last season Texas State clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 14-6-1 overall and posting an 8-1 record in conference play. The bid came with a win in the Southland Conference tournament championship game against Stephen F. Austin University that was down to the wire. Conner knows it will be different this year challenging a new conference. “Each team in the WAC is very good, very athletic, very organized, and most of the time that’s what we’ve seen,” Conner said. “It’s hard to break these teams down. Overall, it makes us a better program and a better team. It gives us a chance to play for the NCAA tournament, and to get there, you have to beat these tough teams.” This will be Texas State’s first and last appearance in the WAC tournament. The athletic programs of Texas State will be moving in 2013 to the Sun Belt conference. The Bobcats look to make a lasting impression this weekend, and if they beat Idaho, Friday they will take on 2nd seed University of Denver (14-1-4, 6-0-2). The Pioneers beat the Bobcats 1-0 earlier this season in a closely contested match in Denver. The team knows how important beating Idaho is in the first round in order to avenge that loss. “We definitely want to win against Idaho and move on,” Staley said. “We want to win the WAC and have a chance to advance in the NCAA tournament. We know if we lose, we go home, and that’ll be disappointing.” Twitter: @odus_Outputs
Thursday Nov. 1 #4 Louisiana Tech
#5 Seattle U
3:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
Utah State defense
The host school, Utah State University, has not allowed more than one goal in any game this season. Of its 20 games, eight have gone to overtime and one of the school’s only two losses was to the 12th ranked team in the nation at the time, Brigham Young University. The Aggies have won six straight heading into the tournament.
Denver’s Kristen Hamilton
Hamilton leads the WAC by four with 13 goals scored. Next best in the WAC is University of Denver’s Kaitlin Bast with nine goals. With 31, Hamilton leads the WAC in points. With 25, Bast is second. Bast has scored in four straight games and the duo has at least one goal in their last five games.
Texas State team offense
The Bobcats have had six different players score goals in the last six games. Only freshman forward Lynsey Curry has scored multiple goals in October. Junior midfielder Kelsie Townsend scored her first goal of the season to lift the Bobcats into the tournament with a double overtime win against UTSA. The Roadrunners were eliminated with the loss to Texas State.
Louisiana Tech
Sunday Nov. 4 WAC Championship Game 2:00 p.m.
#3 Texas State #2 Denver
The Lady Techsters are going into the tournament with three straight losses. Louisiana Tech University has not beaten a team that will be in the WAC Tournament this weekend since Oct. 12, when it defeated Texas State 2-0 in San Marcos. Texas State would not face Louisiana Tech unless the two teams faced off in the championship game.
Idaho defense
The Vandals give up an average of 2.25 goals per game in the WAC, last in the conference. Utah State gives up the fewest goals per contest at 0.53 goals per game.
Winner of Texas State vs. Idaho
1:00 p.m.
#6 Idaho
What’s hot.
What’s not.
Friday Nov. 2 #1 Utah State Winner of Louisiana Tech vs. Seattle
WAC Soccer Tournament
1:00 p.m.
Idaho’s road record
Sophomore midfielder Tori Hale
16
Points for Tori Hale, who leads the Bobcats. Hale has five goals and six assists in her first season at Texas State. Hale has improved from her 2011 numbers, when she started 12 games and produced one goal and two assists as a freshman at TCU.
80:51
Goals scored by Hines in her four years as a Bobcat. Last year in the postseason, Hines shot the game-winning goal against Sam Houston State. It vaulted the Bobcats into the Southland Tournament Final against SFA and eventually into the NCAA Tournament.
19
SOCCER
Time gone by before Hale got the Bobcats on the board against Idaho in their only other matchup this season—her fourth goal of the year. That goal ignited the nine-minute comeback that gave the Bobcats a 2-1 win over the Vandals in their first game in WAC play.
Senior forward Serena Hines
16
BY THE NUMBERS
Hines is one of nine players on the roster to stay healthy and active all season, playing in all 19 games in 2012. Hines made the All-Southland Conference Tournament team in 2011.
Idaho has the worst record on the road, 1-7-1, of any team in the tournament. Including neutral site games, the Vandals are 1-9-1, which goes for worst in the conference out of all schools. Idaho was 1-6-1 on the road in the 2011 season.
Freshman forward Lynsey Curry
8
Curry has four goals as a freshman for Texas State, and all of those have come in the last eight games. Curry scored the game winner against Idaho in their only meeting this season and out of 44 shots, 21 have been on target (47.7 percent).
120
Curry scored 120 goals in high school, 49 in her senior season. All of Curry’s goals this season have come in the first or last 10 minutes of contests.