LAREDO, Texas (September 5, 2017) – The Texas A&M International University women's soccer team dropped its Heartland Conference opener 4-3 to St. Mary's on late Tuesday night in a match that was delayed more than two hours by lightning. The two teams put on a show for the 325 fans in attendance as the match included two ties and three lead changes. With the loss, the Dustdevils fall to 1-1-0 and 0-1-0 in conference play while the Rattlers improve to 2-0-0 (1-0-0 HC).
 
Nicole Cohen and Valeria Macias opened their scoring accounts at TAMIU while Cio Bargallo netted her fifth of the season, one shy of her total last season. Monica Castro picked up her third assist of the season while Aubrey Hall made a career-high seven saves in goal.
 
The Rattlers got on the board first in the 16^th minute on an own goal when the Dustdevils had trouble clearing the rebound on Aubrey Hall's save on StMU"s Roxy Cruz Santory. Hall's second save of the match three minutes later on Maren Craig kept the deficit at 1-0 as the Dustdeivls would soon find an equalizer
 
Macias's first career goal for the Dustdevils tied the match at 1-1 in the 21^st minute just minutes after Hall made her third save of the match. The sophomore was rewarded for a nice run down the left side as Monica Castro found her on the outside of the box. The Laredo native then turned to the right and took two touches before beating Caitlin McCarrell at the far post.
 
St. Mary's retook the lead right before half time in the 38^th minute on a goal from Morgan Cave at the near post on an assist from Alexia Maldonado. Macias came close to tying the match
 
The Dustdevils went down 3-1 three minutes into the second half on Heather Dawson's third goal of the season. The Rattlers seemed poised to run away with the match but the Dustdevils had something to say about that in the 50^th minute with Cohen scoring her first goal in Maroon and Silver. The freshman forward brought the crowd to her feet on a rocket strike from 20 yards out after battling and winning a 50/50 ball near midfield. The El Paso native showed no nerves getting her shot off with Rattler defenders quickly approaching as she brought TAMIU within one goal
 
Cio Bargallo tied the match two minutes later in the 52^nd minute after dodging two Rattler defenders after recovering a loose ball in front of the 18-yard box. After finding space, the sophomore neatly placing the ball in the bottom left corner for her fifth goal in the past two matches.
 
Castro came within inches of giving the Dustdevils a lead on two occasions nailing the crossbar in the 55^th minute and a Caitlin McCarrell save in the 59^th. After weathering that storm, the Rattlers turned up the offensive pressure and got close to scoring the go-ahead goal in the 69^th minute after a Hall save but Brenda Garcia cleared the ball off the line.
 
Heartbreak struck in the 85^th minute when Rachel Gurinsky tapped the ball past Hall to give StMU a 4-3 lead. Bargallo had TAMIU's final chance of the game but her shot went wide left.
 
The Dustdevils will head back on the road for their final two non-conference matches of the season starting with Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 8 in San Antonio and Midwestern State on Sept. 10 in Wichita Falls.