Ladyjacks Battle Cougars to Overtime Thriller to Close Out Non-Conference Schedule

Sunday, September 15

Nacogdoches, Texas

6:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

3-4-0, 0-0-0

Houston

3-5-0, 0-0-0

Houston

Stephen F. Austin

Mattie Musser

Ladyjacks Battle Cougars to Overtime Thriller to Close Out Non-Conference Schedule

9/15/2019 9:23:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: SFA Athletics

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The SFA women's soccer team rallied from a goal down at the halftime break to equalize the game in the second and send the contest to overtime on Sunday evening at SFA Soccer Field. The University of Houston struck first in the opening period of extra time, however, defeating the 'Jacks with a golden goal in the 97^thminute of play. SFA moves to 3-4 on the season and 3-2 at SFA Soccer Field with the hard-fought result.

The Cougars opened the scoring in the 25^thminute, but would be held at bay for the remainder of regulation by the 'Jacks, who finally broke through on the scoreboard in the second half.

OF NOTE
• Mattie Musser scored the equalizing goal in the 78^thminute, as she slotted home a backwards pass from Kenady Carlile off a rebounded save. The initial challenge at goal came in the form of a headed effort from Morgan Wessling, which had been deflected by the Cougar keeper.

• SFA's equalizer marked the fifth-straight game in which the 'Jacks have scored off of a set piece.

• Freshman Peyton Graves made her first career start in the contest, slotting in in the midfield. She played 55 minutes in the contest.

• The Ladyjacks will begin Southland Conference league play next week, beginning with the conference opener against Northwestern State.

COACH CRITTENDEN'S THOUGHTS
Overall thoughts on how his team performed:
"First off, you have to give credit to the University of Houston, because they came out with great energy and intensity, and from a mentality standpoint they certainly challenged us. I certainly would've liked to see us come out and match that energy and intensity, but it took us about 45 minutes to get ourselves to where we needed to be. The second half was much more balanced, we had some significant shape shifts that really allowed us to be dangerous and cause some problems for them on defense. That's something we will take a lot of pride in and build on."

On the quality of tonight's opponent and the non-conference schedule as a whole:
"This was a good test for us, at the end of the day we've been tested with this non-conference schedule; we've had tough games on the road, tough games at home and we've competed in really tight games against good, solid opposition. As we move into league play, I feel confident that there's not much that we'll face that we haven't seen already. I'm very confident in our kids, confident in our culture and ready to get after it on Friday night in our league opener."

On the team's resiliency to rally from a goal down:
"The resiliency piece came up big for our team tonight. We continued to move forward after the goal, tactically we were flexible and mature in the changes we had to make to give ourselves a chance in the final 20 minutes. This team doesn't go away, it's something we've learned in our non-conference slate, and we've had good chances to tie or win games in all four of our losses we've had against very good opposition. Disappointed with the result but proud that at the end of the day, there's nothing that's going to rattle or deter this group."

-SFA-