Lambdin, Davila score, SAGU wins

Lady Lions top Horns in Tyler, 2-1

Team wins for second time in three games

Lambdin scores fifth goal in last five games

TYLER, Texas  --  The Southwestern Assemblies of God University women’s soccer team won for the second time in their last three games with a 2-1 triumph over Texas College on Monday afternoon.

Audrea Davila (Grand Prairie, Tx / South GP HS) scored the game-winning goal in the second half, breaking a 1-1 halftime tie.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, September 29. It was postponed due to heavy rains across the region.

The victory improves SAGU to 3-9 overall. They are 1-3 in games involving the Red River Athletic Conference. Texas College slipped to 1-9 and 0-4. The win avenged a tough, 1-0 loss at home to TC a year ago.

“We played fairly well,” said a satisfied Head Coach Mandy Fortner. “We missed quite a few opportunities to score multiple times, but, overall, we dominated possession of the ball.”

“We took a lot of shots,” she added, “and we hit the post a few times as well.”

SAGU started a few players who haven’t seen a lot of playing time, according to Fortner. Of them, sophomore Emily Jones drew praise. Normally positioned as a right winger, Jones (Flagstaff, Az / Flagstaff HS) played well as an outside back.

Team Lioness opened the scoring sometime in the first half.

Amy Lambdin (Stockton, Cal / Elliot Christian) booted her team-leading fifth goal, all in the past five games, thanks to an assist from freshman Justine Lopez (Red Oak, Tx / Red Oak HS). That combination is beginning to pay dividends for SAGU.

Coach Fortner said that Lambdin was close to scoring three other times.

Another threat was Lyndi Garrison (Hastings, Mich / Thornapple Kellogg HS). The sophomore is quick afoot and stealth-like on the attack.

“Lyndi had two chances,” pointed out Fortner, “but she wasn’t able to put it away.”

A breakdown on the back line yielded an easy score for the Lady Steers.

A ball was sent wide to a forward who had gotten behind a Lions defender. With no pressure on her, the player moved in on a defenseless goalie Haley Shingleton (Pasadena, Tx / Deer Park HS). Having held her ground on the goal line, Texas College was able to put it past Shingleton with only 45 seconds left before intermission.

The winner came in the second stanza. Natalie Pena (Dallas, Tx / Union HS) spotted Davila open on the edge, and the freshman struck a beautiful goal from outside the box, sailing over twenty yards and beyond the keeper.

SAGU had a 17-6 advantage in shots, including a 9-5 margin in shots on goal. Another sign of Southwestern’s aggressive play was in fouls, where Team Purp was called for eight of the nine citations in the game.

Upcoming Schedule: Wiley at home on Thursday

The Lady Lions play again on Thursday, October 4, when they will entertain Wiley College. The game will start at 3:00pm (CST). Through twelve games the Lady Lions have been outscored by just a 23-19 margin.

Southwestern has six games remaining, three of them at home. The school record for wins is four, which has been reached twice; 2009 under Coach Tim Grant, and last fall under Coach Fortner. The Lady Lions began playing in 2006.

The squad is also nearing a possible season scoring record.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.