Women's Soccer: SAGU Falls in San Antonio
Our Lady of the Lake Remains Unbeaten
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University women's soccer team was on the short-end of a 8-0 loss to Our Lady of the Lake University on Thursday.
On the road in a game against a team in the thick of a conference race, the Lady Lions (2-13, 0-6) battled valiantly in defeat. The Lady Saints are undefeated (10-0-1, 5-0-1) and are bidding for a berth in the NAIA national playoffs. Our Lady, now in their second year of existance, are ranked #45 in this week's national coaches poll.
"We played a very solid second half," said Head Coach Tim Grant. "If they hadn't scored in the final seconds of the game, we would have only surrendered a goal or two goal after halftime. I am proud of our team for the way they fought. Noelle (Pugliese), Jessica (Powell) and Tracy (Griffin) gave outstanding efforts."
Griffin Now Ranks #5 in Nation in Saves
The young Lady Lions held the Saints to 15 shots on goal. For the senior goalkeeper, Griffin (Wylie, Tx / Wylie HS), who came into the game fifth in the nation in saves, she added seven more.
"She got a lot of work today," Grant said. "They took a ton of shots and she made a lot of stops."
Powell, a 5-foot-6 sophomore defender (Terrell, Tx / Terrell HS), also drew praise from the coaching staff. Her effort was described as tremendous as she roamed as SAGU's sweeper.
The offense has had its share of struggles, but the pieces are coming together.
Pugliese (Lee's Summit, Mo / Lee's Summit North HS) was moved from midfield to forward, and the 5'7 freshman has took to the position change well. A native of the Kansas City, Missouri suburbs, Pugliese (pug-LEES) "...played hard up top," coach Grant pointed out. "She got some 'through balls' passed to her and she managed to fire some shots. Noelle made several great plays."
In total shots, OLLU fired 32, with six different players scoring. They scored just 93 seconds into the game, and had a 2-0 lead less than five minutes later. SAGU had three shots; two by Perla Acosta (Houston, Tx / Klein Forest HS) and one by Sarah Powell (Terrell, Tx / Terrell HS).
Border Run on Saturday
SAGU will travel tonight to the border, some 225 miles south of San Antonio. The University of Texas at Brownsville (10-2-2 overall, 5-0-1 RRAC), ranked #30 in the country, will host the Lady Lions on Saturday at 1:00pm. The Lady Scorpions defeated Huston-Tillotson University (4-9-2, 1-4-1) 5-0 on Thursday.
Cedar Hill's Northwood University (10-3-1, 6-0) is in the catbird seat. They have combined to outscore their six conference foes by a combined 24-0. Next week they will entertain their two closest pursuers. On October 28 they host Our Lady, before playing UTB two days later. Both contests are set to begin at 1:00pm.
The Saints have a composite 24-3 edge in goals scored in their 5-0-1 mark in the Red River. They tied UT-Brownsville on October 2nd, 1-1, in two overtimes. The game was in the Rio Grande Valley. The Scorpions, meanwhile, have a 27-2 scoring advantage in RRAC games.
The top six teams will qualify for the conference tournament. Last year, UTB edged OLLU in the final in a 1-0 verdict. Our Lady had upset #1 seed Northwood in the semi-finals, 2-1.
SAGU Final Homestand Next Week
The Lady Lions play their final two games of the regular season next week at Southwestern Field. Texas Wesleyan visits on Oct. 28. Then, on Saturday, Oct. 30, it is Senior Day and Parents Day when SAGU welcomes University of the Southwest.
