Stephen F. Austin
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UTEP
Miners Nip SFA
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2010
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Despite playing a man down for the final 37 minutes of the second half, Stephen F. Austin took UTEP to overtime Friday night. But the Miners got a goal in the extra period to come away with a 2-1 victory and hand SFA its first home defeat of the season.
UTEP's Brittany Kindzierski scored the game-winner on a rebounded shot in the 97th minute of play. It was her second goal of the contest and improved UTEP to 3-1-0 on the year. SFA moves to 2-3-0.
"We're extremely proud of the girls," SFA head coach Tony Amato said. "We thought it was going to be a hard game; we knew that coming in. We asked our girls to really make sure we worked hard, that we were competitive, and that we matched their toughness, and there's no question that we did that."
The Ladyjacks were the aggressors in the early going, hammering five shots on goal in the first period versus two for the visitors. One of UTEP's two attempts found the net, though, as Kindzierski opened the scoring just before halftime in the 42nd minute.
SFA answered barely two minutes into the second period with a goal off the foot of Brenda Salazar. Becky Johnson sent a high arcing ball into the box, and UTEP goalkeeper Chandra Morden came out to make a play on the ball. Salazar had slipped in behind her defender and was able to beat Morden to the ball and chip it up and over for the first goal of her career.
"Salazar has the potential to be a big-time forward," Amato said. "She's very crafty and we saw it on that goal. She was able to get behind and was just clinical with that finish. Some players just blast it, and she was able to lift it over the keeper."
SFA was dealt a heavy blow in the 52nd minute, when senior captain and defensive stalwart Kelli Barnes was issued a red card after a foul on a breakaway.
As a result of the foul, UTEP was given a free kick from just outside the box. Tess Hall drove two quick shots into a wall of Ladyjack defenders in front of the net, but SFA turned away both attempts. After the Ladyjacks had a chance to re-organize, UTEP didn't record a shot on goal the rest of the half.
"[When you play a man down] you have to be a little bit smarter," Amato said. "We asked them to make sure the 10 players we had on the field did a little bit more, gave a little bit more to make up for the 11th player who wasn't there. I think we did that without question."
The Ladyjacks pressed hard in the final seconds and came up with their best shot at a game-winner in the 89th minute. Kylie Louw stole a pass in the Miner backfield and caught UTEP out of position for a one-on-one with Morden. Morden came out to challenge and Louw drilled a low shot right off her hands for the 'keeper's seventh save of the game.
"We battled, we had chances to win the game," Amato said. "And then when we went down to 10 men it was going to have to be a real gritty performance. The girls grinded it out, we had chances to win it. It was great to come back to one-one, and even with 10 men to have a chance to win it down the stretch."
Kindzierski's second goal came after Tori Martyn rattled a long shot off the SFA crossbar. The ball bounced into open space, and Kindzierski slipped a low shot inside the far post out of the reach of a diving Courtney Bauder.
The SFA 'keeper finished with one save, while the Ladyjacks recorded two team saves. UTEP finished with a 17-13 edge in total shots, but SFA put eight shots on target against five for the Miners.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action Sunday, when they host Louisiana-Lafayette in a 1 p.m. contest.
-- SFA --
