MARSHALL, Texas – Looking to get back on track this week following a tough loss, the East Texas Baptist University women's soccer team will have three matches this week with one on the road. ETBU will face Hendrix College on Tuesday night and then return home to Cornish Field to take on both the University of Ozarks and the University of Texas Tyler on Thursday and Saturday.
In their last match, ETBU dropped a 3-1 decision to LeTourneau University.
Ashleigh Rondon had the lone goal for ETBU. The loss puts ETBU at 5-5-1 overall and 2-4 in American Southwest Conference play.
Rondon remains ETBU's leader in all offensive categories in goals (five), assists (four), and shots (45) while
Kendall Shirley is second with four goals.
Kibriana Bonner,
Samantha Martinez, and
Brianna Mickshaw each have two assists for the team. In goal,
Maddie Rea has a 2.12 goals against average state while collecting 27 saves.
ETBU starts this week with a quick road trip to Hendrix College. The Warriors are 9-4 overall coming off a 2-0 defeat to Centre College. ETBU has lost their last two meetings to HC, including a 1-0 defeat at home last season.
The Tigers will then take on Ozarks on Thursday. Including a 3-1 win last season, the Tigers have control of a 21-1-1 record all-time. Currently 3-6-2, the Eagles are one game behind ETBU at 1-5-1 following a 2-0 loss to Sul Ross State University. Madison Chaney leads the team with four goals while the top assist leader is Rebecca Peterson with three. Klara Henry has allowed a 1.56 GAA while collecting 78 saves.
ETBU's final game this week is against Texas Tyler. Last season, ETBU upset the Patriots 1-0 in regular season and then tied in the first round of the ASC Tournament. UTT advanced on penalty kicks, 4-2. UTT is 7-2-1 and only counts as a regional match as they are in the process of becoming an NCAA Division II program. Kaelyn Steitz has the throne as far as goal scoring on the team with five while teammates Mariah Harmon and Kiersten Ehler have three assists each. Jade Crump has collected 40 saves while allowing a 1.84 GAA.
Although ETBU's conference game against UTT has no bearing on the conference standings, head coach Erik Ryan Solberg feels there is reason for ETBU to treat it like it is a conference game. "For us, we have an ax to grind," said Coach Solberg. "We beat them in the regular season last year and then drew through one hundred ten minutes and lost in penalty kicks in the conference tournament. Our girls are going to be up for the match. We're going to be playing incredibly hard. We're going to go out there and try to win. It's also our breast cancer awareness game. So we're going to play with that extra motivation. A lot of girls on our team, and even my family have been affected by that. I think that's something that's going to push us over the top that we need."
Tuesday night's game starts at 6:00 p.m. while both Thursday and Saturday will have 5:00 p.m. starts.
