Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Hat-trick from Barker Keeps SFA Undefeated in Conference
9/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
HOUSTON, Texas – The Ladyjacks took on the Houston Baptist Huskies on Sunday afternoon to round out a long weekend on the road. Stephen F. Austin, with the 4-2 win over HBU, keeps the drive alive staying undefeated in conference play. Junior Hanna Barker would lead the Ladyjacks with her first career hat-trick. She had two goals within five minutes of the opening kick and the third goal came right after the start of the second half.
Sophomore Breanna Moore would score the fourth goal for the Ladyjacks in the 26:20 minute mark that would become Moore’s third goal on the season. She is only one away from tieing her career high record. Barker would complete the afternoon with four shots, three of those on goal. Senior Amanda Doyle and junior Madison Hall would both have three shots apiece. Hall, Doyle, and Barker each had an assist.
“Today was a great result against a good HBU team at their place. Our attacking tempo and ideas were really good and for about 70 minutes I thought our defensive discipline was good,” said Head Coach Wally Crittenden.
SFA came out hard and quick, wanting to put this one away in the win column. Barker was on fire in the first five minutes of play. Barker had back-to-back goals in the 2nd minute and 5th minute. The Huskies would then challenge the goalie, Redshirt junior Lillie Ehlert, but she has been solid in the net. Play would continue until the 26th minute when Moore would get a clear feed from Madison Hall, and rips it through making the score 3-0. The Huskies would answer back in the 28th minute making the score 3-1. At halftime, the Ladykacls were up 3-1, and outshooting the Huskies 7-4. Ehlert would have three saves in the half.
After the break, SFA does what they do best and came out of the locker room ready to play. Barker would add a third goal to her game resume, putting the Ladyjacks up 4-1 at the 46:24 minute mark. Time would wind down to 64:40 when the Huskies would strike back, placing one just out of the reach of Ehlert, closing the gap to 4-2. The Ladyjacks would then go one a seven shot streak trying to push the score higher. The Huskies would find their stride and keep most of the possession putting SFA on the defense. They would force Ehlert to make two more saves before Doyle would get a good cleared ball.
Stephen F. Austin would dig deep and finish the match with the 4-2 lead. Lillie Ehlert would collect four saves on the afternoon. SFA would outshoot the Huskies 15-8 with 4-3 shots on goal.
“For me though,” continued Crittenden. “We still have room for improvement, and that is where we will focus this week in preparation for our first home weekend of the conference season. To take 9 points out of 9 with all three games being on the road so far, we are in a good spot moving forward.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action on Friday for a three game home stand. They will face Lamar University on Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m. CT. The game will be live streamed on ESPN3.
-SFA-
