The WTAMU Lady Buff soccer team traveled to Abilene to participate in the Lone Star Conference championship tournament on Nov. 3 as the sixth seed. The Lady Buffs defeated Eastern New Mexico 1-0 in the first round but fell to Midwestern State 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals.
The first round game against the ENMU Zias was a knock-down drag-out fight. Neither team was able to score in the first half, and each team’s goalie made four saves in the half. WT outshot the Zias 10-5 during the half.
The Lady Buffs finally broke through at 77:26 into the game. Senior Leslie Briggs’ corner kick tipped off the Zias goalie’s hands and into the net. The 1-0 victory made the Lady Buffs the first six seed to make it out of the first round since WT did it in 2007.“It was great, but it wasn’t a surprise for us,” junior Kelsey Wright said. “We had previously beaten Eastern last Friday at home so we knew it was our game to take.”
The Lady Buffs semifinal match was against the second-seeded Midwestern State Mustangs on Nov. 4. The Mustangs took advantage of a late goal to force overtime, and scored five minutes into overtime to get the 2-1 win.
WT quickly found the net against MSU. A corner kick by senior Becky McMullen that went directly into the lower right corner of the net gave the Lady Buffs a 1-0 lead 12:03 in. WT’s defense stood strong throughout the remainder of the first half, led by sophomore goalie Yvette Bedoy who had four saves in the half.
The Mustangs came out of halftime on the attack. MSU outshot the Lady Buffs 10-2 across the second half. The Mustangs first goal came 84:43 into the game off the foot of Payton Fookes. Fookes caught Bedoy napping and snuck it past her to tie the game 1-1 and force overtime.
“It was an easy goal that we handed them,” said Wright. “I think we took a break at the wrong moment.”
MSU ended the game five minutes into the sudden death overtime. Kelsey Hill picked up the goal on a header from Maddie Fraser’s corner kick for the 2-1 win.
The Lady Buffs finished the season with a 9-10-1 record. WT will look to revamp this offseason, as they will only graduate four seniors.
