Ladyjacks Improve to 2-2 with Shutout Win over Texas Southern, 2-0

Friday, August 31

Houston, Texas

7:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

2-2

Texas Southern

0-4-1

Stephen F. Austin

Texas Southern

Ladyjacks Improve to 2-2 with Shutout Win over Texas Southern, 2-0

8/31/2018 9:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Fondren and Gillespie nets first goals of season in road win

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

HOUSTON, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team wasted little time in taking the lead in a 2-0 road win over Texas Southern on Friday night, and would add another tally in the second to improve to 2-2 on the season. Sophia Fondren notched her first goal of the season eight minutes into the contest for the game-winning tally, while Mari Gillespie added her first strike of the campaign in the 72^ndminute to put the game on ice.

"It was really nice to come here and get a result, get a multi-goal game, I thought we were close on a couple of occasions to opening up the score even more, so I think we'll improve there", said SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "I thought our kids maintained focus, I thought they handled that adversity well, and I thought that coming down the day of for a game and maintaining our preparation was very important. We were able to play a lot of people, we were able to manage some minutes and rest some players as well, which helps us as we prepare for UT on Sunday."

Playing the game on Texas Southern's football turf provided substantial challenges on the day for SFA, as a field is only 55 yards wide and being packed in with a defensive formation by the Lady Tigers contributed to a relatively low shot count on the day. The 'Jacks would break through in the eighth minute though, as a deep ball hit a charging Mattie Musser, making her first regular-season start for SFA, in stride in the final third. The freshman slotted a pass over to Sophia Fondren, who put a well-placed shot high into the net for her first goal of the campaign.

"Without a doubt that was the most challenging field that I've ever been part of a college match on", added Crittenden. "When you show up to play and find out the field is 55 yards wide, it changes what you review in warm ups, it changes your tactical planning, because now every throw-in is dangerous. Corner kicks and other set pieces are more dangerous, and certainly the amount of space you get to play through the midfield changes, on top of a defensive formation taken up by the other team. When you stack all that up, those are some pretty unique challenges to a team to keep its focus, and not let such a unique environment distract them. "

After a few narrow misses in the second half, the 'Jacks would double the lead on Gillespie's strike in the 72^ndminute. An SFA throw-in in the final third bounced around a bit before the junior floated in a shot from 19 yards out to notch SFA's second goal.

Allyson Smith (1-2-0) earned the win in net by starting and playing the first half, while Madeline Talbot stopped three shots in relief in the second half.

The Ladyjacks would outshoot the Lady Tigers 10-3 in the contest, including an 8-3 advantage in the second half.

Next up for the 'Jacks is a Sunday evening bout with #23 Texas, winners of a 2-1 decision over Long Beach State (RV) on Thursday night. Kick-off for that game is set for 5:00 p.m, and will be shown on the Longhorn Network.

-SFA-