MARSHALL, Texas – Having encountered two tough losses in the previous weekend on the road, the East Texas Baptist University women's soccer team welcomes the 15-time defending conference champion Hardin-Simmons University Cowgirls to Cornish Field on Thursday night. In addition, ETBU will also take on McMurry University this Saturday.
Last week, ETBU took two tough defeats at the hands of Mary Hardin-Baylor (6-1) and Concordia University-Texas (3-0) to put their record at 2-3-1 overall and 0-2-0 in conference play.
Abigail Bath had the lone goal for the Tigers all weekend long. This puts her tied for first with two goals along with
Ashleigh Rondon,
Raegan Kappler, Jena Kucera, and
Kendall Shirley. Rondon leads the team in assists (three) with a team-high 25 shots in total.
Maddie Rea has a 1.93 goals against average while
Karrigan Falber has 15 of 29 total saves by both keepers.
If there's one thing that ETBU takes away from the weekend, it's that it's been a learning experience as head coach
Erik Solberg explains. "We always knew it wasn't last year with a lot of new faces on the team," said Coach Solberg. "It is a teachable moment. But we're at the point where we're a third of the way done and we have to learn from those mistakes. You try to learn and grow through everything. But also accepting that sometimes we don't perform well enough to win. We have to be better than that and grow and learn from it. I know that we will."
Learning and growing from the past will be put to the test for ETBU as they take on highly-talented HSU. After starting the season off with a loss, the Cowgirls are riding a three-game winning streak into Marshall and are looking to build on a 14-game winning streak over ETBU following last season's 6-1 defeat in Abilene. Kenne Kessler leads the team with three goals while Josey Meyer has two assists to lead HSU. Caitlin Christiansen has allowed three goals (0.75 GAA) in four matches while making seven saves.
Two days later, ETBU hosts McM and they will look to extend their 13-0 record on the War Hawks all-time, which includes the 1-0 road win last season. At 2-4, McM has lost the last two matches. But they are led by Sky Reynolds, who has two goals while Cristen Lumbreras, Ashland Hansen, and Julia Renfrow have two assists each. Cindy Villasana has allowed a 1.41 GAA while picking up seven saves on the season.
Both games this weekend start at 5:00 PM.
