PORTALES, N.M. – The upstart Texas A&M International University women's soccer program sought more history in an already well-decorated season on Saturday in Portales, N.M. Unfortunately for the Dustdevils, the first-ever meeting with Eastern New Mexico fell in the hosts favor, via a Zias' 4-2 victory.
With the loss, the Dustdevils fall to 1-2-2 (0-0-0 Heartland Conference) after previously recording program-first positive results against the NCAA Division I's University of Texas-Pan American and the NAIA's University of Texas at Brownsville this year.
On Saturday, the Dustdevils fell behind after ENMU's Danielle Caro opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a penalty kick conversion.
The Dustdevils entered the second half still trailing 1-0, but a pair of blink-and-you'd-miss-them strikes leveled the score and saw TAMIU seize the lead in a total of 68 seconds. The host Zias later answered with a trio of unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes to claim the eventual victory.
"We started the game off flat, and that allowed them to score off a controversial PK," TAMIU associate head coach Felipe Arias said. "It was called a PK because the ball bounced and hit our player's hand, but the offensive player that shot it was pretty obviously offside.
"But we were able to make some adjustments through the first half and into the second. It was exciting to see the way we answered and scored our two goals. But after those, we lost a little bit of focus and concentration, leading to the three goals."
It was Kim Garcia that equalized the game in the 49th minute, outclassing ENMU goalkeeper Fabienne Wilson in a 1-on-1 after Rosalia Pujols Burgos swiped a deflected pass. The defensive miscue precluded Garcia's team-leading second goal of her junior season. The helper by Pujols-Burgos was her first assist.
Just 68 seconds later, off a free kick in the 50th minute, senior captain Sol Medina sweetly struck a centered ball by Karina Garcia. Medina's header bulged Wilson's net to award the Dustdevils the lead for about 12 minutes. Karina Garcia lofted the fluttering throughball for her team-leading second assist of the season while it was Medina's first goal of the year.
Karina Garcia, Medina and Claudia De Lara each took two shots while TAMIU keeper Chelsea Knaack played all 90 minutes in goal and made three saves off the Zias' total 17 shots.
"I think we played well – well enough to win – but a few things didn't go our way," Arias said. "I saw a lot that we should be proud of; I saw what we were capable of, but now we have to move on and be ready for Monday's conference game."
The Dustdevils return to action on Monday at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin at 12 p.m. in the Dustdevils' Heartland opener. The Dustdevils are 9-11-0 all time against the Falcons.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Adam Geigerman,
Sports Information Director and Promotions Specialist
956-326-3007
AdamS.Geigerman@TAMIU.edu
?www.GoDustdevils.com
