Women's Soccer 10/12/2012 2:31:00 AM

Post Season Bound!

Box Score LAREDO, Texas – Thursday night the TAMIU women’s soccer team reached yet another milestone in what has already been an historic season. The Dustdevils (9-3, 5-2 HC) cruised past conference foe UT-Permian Basin 4-2, locking up the team’s first-ever berth in the Heartland Conference Tournament.

The Dustdevils currently sit third in the standings leading Newman by 2.5 games and St. Mary’s by four in the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot. In a worst case scenario, TAMIU could finish level with St. Mary’s at 5-5, but the Dustdevils would still get the nod as they own the head-to-head tie breaker having swept the Rattlers in the season series.

“This season is one that I think these girls, especially the seniors, will remember for the rest of their lives.” said Head Coach Claudio Arias. “We’ve gone through some difficult seasons in the past, but these girls never gave up. They trained hard during the offseason, they stayed positive, and now they are being rewarded.”

In addition to locking up a playoff spot, Thursday night’s win puts the Dustdevils just one shy of surpassing the all-time mark for single season wins NAIA or Division II, which was set back in 2003 (9-9-2).

“To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about setting the school record,” said Arias. “We’ve tried all season to remain focused on improving game by game and that’s what we will continue to do as we approach the tournament.”

TAMIU came out of the gates a bit heavy-footed and the Falcons took advantage scoring in the 16^th minute to grab the early lead. The Dustdevils slowly began to pick up the pace, creating several opportunities to equalize. In the 23^rd minute, senior midfielder Briana Garcia drove her defender deep into the defensive zone before finding Alyssa Perez with a perfect cross to the far post to tie the game at one.

As the opening half began to wind down, the Dustdevils continued to pressure the UTPB defense. At the 40 minute mark Cynthia Cervantes crossed into the box from 30 yards out, where Kirsten Jennings out-hustled a pair of Falcon defenders to score her first goal of the season, giving TAMIU a 2-1 lead.

The Dustdevils carried that momentum into the second half, striking again in minute 55. A beautiful through ball from Sam Zerilli left Jennings in a one-on-one with the UTPB keeper, who was forced to foul to prevent a goal setting up a penalty kick. Zerilli calmly stepped up and buried her third goal of the season to put TAMIU up 3-1.

Refusing to go away, the Falcons cut the deficit back to one in the 69^th minute when Alyssa Riddle headed in a cross from Alyssa Eich. The celebration was short-lived however, as TAMIU defender Laura Twinem scored her first goal of the season less than a minute later with a high-arcing shot from 25 yards out.

“Our plan today was to build our attack from the back row,” said Coach Arias. “That allowed us to be more transitional which created lots of space for us to play through balls and generate opportunities.”

The Dustdevils outshot the Falcons 26-8 with a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal. Zerilli and Sol Medina led TAMIU with four shots apiece, while Jennings added three. Aissa Pedraza and Katelin Jennings split time between the sticks, with Jennings picking up two saves.

The ladies will be back on the pitch this Saturday, looking to officially earn the title of “Best women’s soccer team in school history”. The Dustdevils will host provisional conference member McMurry University at 12 p.m. at the TAMIU Soccer Complex.

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