Fondren’s Late Goal Lifts Ladyjacks over Aggies for Third-Straight Victory

Friday, September 8

Las Cruces, NM

4:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

3-2-0

New Mexico State

4-3-1

SFA

NM STATE

Fondren’s Late Goal Lifts Ladyjacks over Aggies for Third-Straight Victory

9/8/2017 7:54:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SFA has now won three matches in a row

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

LAS CRUCES, N.M.– It was a matter of when, not if, Sophia Fondren would find the back of the net in the 2017 campaign. The freshman midfielder had nearly scored in several matches this season, only to be denied by a great save or a deflection off the goal frame. Friday night, Fondren put the matter to rest with one of her patented strikes from deep, breaking up a scoreless game in the 71^st minute to give SFA a 1-0 win over New Mexico State on the road.

The win was the third in a row for Stephen F. Austin, which moves to 3-2 on the season and comes away with another first for the season—a shutout. The Ladyjacks outshot the Aggies 11-9 in the game on their own home field, and held a strong 8-3 advantage in shots on goal in the contest. New Mexico State drops a third straight match after starting the season 4-0-1.

SFA got off to a strong start in the game, as Hanna Barker took a shot just three and a half minutes into the game, only to see the attempt blocked. A few minutes later, freshman Katelyn Termini got two shots off at the Aggies goal in the 10^th and 11^th minute of play, both of which were saved by NMSU goalkeeper Ashley Martin. A shot on frame by Lauren Hall in the 33^rd minute was also saved by Martin, followed by a shot that went wide of goal by Fondren in the 35^th minute.

"We knew that they were going to bring a very spirited and motivated team", said SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "We knew that it was going to be a very physical game, and that from an organizational standpoint and from a quality standpoint that they were going to challenge us. They're a well-coached team, they've got good players, and I felt that we had three or four opportunities in the first 10 minutes that could've settled the game had we converted them, but more than anything it was their team's defensive execution that kept that from being converted."

Despite the early advantage in offensive pressure and shots on goal, SFA was tied with the Aggies 0-0 at the halftime break.

"I felt that our attacks were dangerous and numerous", Crittenden explained. "I thought the mentality and intensity of our kids was great, as was our physical commitment and work ethic. We need to be a little better at execution and possession, but we had 11 shots in the game, and eight of them on goal, which is a really good percentage. There were another five or six really dangerous scenarios where we looked to pass instead of take the final shot, and that would've increased out shot count and looks at goal as well. Overall I was pleased with the ideas, it's the execution and possession that is the main thing I want us to continue to build on."

In the second half, the teams quickly exchanged shots on goal in the 45^th and 47^th minute. Both of which were saved by the goalkeepers. Stephen F. Austin continued the pressure, however, and got shots on goal from Madison Hall early in the 52^nd minute and again from Barker late in the 52^nd, both of which were saved by Martin. After some back and forth play between the two teams, the Ladyjacks would get their big break in the 71^st minute of play, when Fondren took a pass from Termini about 26 yards away from goal and fired an excellent strike into the upper left corner of the goal, which beat a leaping Martin for the golden goal in the match.

The game was far from over, however, and the Aggies were persistent in the attack in the final third of the match. A corner kick in the 78^th minute showed some promise, as chaos in the box prevented a clear by the Ladyjacks for several seconds. A resulting shot by the Aggies was far too high over the net to pose the threat of an equalizer, but showed that NMSU still had some fight left. SFA would weather two more corner kicks in the 82^nd and 85^th minutes of play, with the second resulting in a shot that was saved by goalkeeper Madeline Talbot, who started the second half. A final shot in the 86^th minute by the Aggies Devin Hart sailed wide of goal, and the home side would not get another shot off in the contest, as SFA preserved the clean sheet, and with it, the victory.

"The movement off the ball was really good, especially considering the heat and the elements out here", Crittenden said. "It was definitely a challenging environment, so for us to remain mentally tough and get good movement off the ball, as well as make good adjustments to the strong organization of their defensive game plan, which allowed us to flip the script and impose ourselves a bit more. The goal was tremendous, we had a strong build up around the top of the box, Sophie stepped into it and got a good shot, as she always does. Overall this was a great game for us, a good test on the road and we got a lot of people competing at a high level. As we continue to get better in our execution and our schemes as a whole, I feel like we're headed in the right direction."

Allyson Smith played 45 shutout minutes in goal in the first half, and was spelled by Talbot in the second half, the latter of whom made three saves in the game.

Next up for the Ladyjacks is a matchup with UTEP on Sunday afternoon in El Paso. The Miners play Incarnate Word at 7:00 on Friday night at home, looking to improve on a 1-5 record in 2017.