BROWNWOOD, Texas – Down 2-0 in the second half, East Texas Baptist University fought until the end but came up shy of a victory, 2-1, on the road against Howard Payne University. ETBU ends the regular season at 5-4-6 and 2-4-2 in the American Southwest Conference. They will be the #6 seed in the upcoming ASC Tournament next week.
Sarah Ramos led the team in shots on goal with four and five overall shots. She also had ETBU's only goal.
Mallory Duncan added three shots with two on goal. Goalkeeper
Addison Funk finished with four saves. ETBU took 17 shots with 10 on goal and held HPU to just seven shots with six on goal.
The first minutes of the half were a battle as ETBU's first attempt came from
Sarah Ramos at 10:05 it missed to the left of the goal. Ramos attempted a shot on goal at 16:58 after some competitive play from both teams as it was saved by the Jackets goalkeeper. Around two minutes later a freekick from the Tigers set up a Duncan attempt on goal at 19:16 as it was denied. Funk's first save of the game came at 23:11.
Giselle Laredo then attempted a shot on goal at 28:23 but was saved, again. Three minutes later, HPU scored their first goal at 31:31. Ramos trying to level the playing field for the Tigers attempted a shot on goal at 34:52 but the HPU goalkeeper continued with the first half shutout. After a Howard Payne goal kick, Oliva Gallegos attempted a shot on goal but it was saved by the Jackets goalkeeper at 39:19. The last Tigers' offensive action was a shot on goal attempt from
Liliana Garcia at 41:37 as HPU had six saves in the half of her nine on the night.
Only 25 seconds into the second half,
Elizabeth Wynne attempted a shot at 45:25 and it missed to the right. Just four minutes into the new half, HPU was able to score their second goal of the match at 49:38 on a throw-in play making it 2-0. The Tigers came back with three shots in a little over a minute with the first a shot on goal from Duncan at 50:37, second a shot on goal from Kat Izaguirre at 51:20, and a shot attempt form
Elizabeth Wynne at 51:46. Duncan continued the attack with a shot attempt that hit the crossbar at 55:54. Ramos cut the lead to one, 2-1, scoring in the 57
th minute. Funk's second save of the match came at 59:14 and her third less than a minute later at 60:38. At the 65
th minute mark, Funk recorded the fourth and final save of the match. It was not until 84:37 that ETBU's
Carly Wyatt was able to attempt another shot it as it went high. The final offensive action for the Tigers was a shot on goal attempt from Ramos at 89:08 that fell short of tying the match.
ETBU will face HPU again in the first round of the ASC Tournament on Tuesday in Brownwood.
