Soccer Finishes Regular Season with Trip to Houston Baptist

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After clinching the first Southland Conference Tournament berth in program history, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's soccer team heads to Houston Baptist on Friday for the final match of the regular season.

The Islanders secured a trip to Conway, Ark., for the conference tournament last Sunday with a 1-0 victory against McNeese on a Jessica Berdan goal in the 52nd minute.

"It was a big moment for the program and all the players who have come before," head coach Shanna Caldwell said. "It's a culmination of all the hard work from the first day of training back in 2013.

"We still have a game Friday night to finish out the regular season. I think it's important that we stay focused and don't lose sight of how we got to this point by going one game at a time and adjusting our focus accordingly for each game. 

Heading into the final round of regular season matches, the Islanders hold fourth place in the Southland Conference standings, just one point back of Southeastern Louisiana in third.

NOTING THE ISLANDERS

• A&M-Corpus Christi has been a roll lately with finding the back of the net. The Islanders have netted eight of their 14 goals this season in the last six matches and averaging 11 shots per win.

• Jessica Berdan joined Hailey Sutton as a co-leader in goals scored for the Islanders this year. Berdan scored each match this past weekend to improve her season tally to three.

• Goalkeeper Megan Delaney has fallen out of the top-20 in saves per game and total saves, down to 22nd in both categories with 6.38 saves per game and 102 total saves. The dip in numbers can be attributed to the defensive stops made by Jacey Love, Mariah Olivé, Brooke Erdmann, Daniela Gonzalez and Jordan Harden.

PLAYING NEW POSITIONS

Throughout the season, several Islanders have adjusted to new roles following injuries to starters. Berdan and Emma Biba have moved into the midfield after starting the season in the defense. The midfield tandem has notched eight points in the last three matches. 

Meghan Cordero made the transition to forward over the weekend, harassing fullbacks with her pace and ability to shoot from distance. Erdmann has become a defensive mainstay for the Islanders, but continues to join the attack on long-overlapping runs. 

"Going from forward to fullback was a little difficult to transition from an attacking mindset," Erdmann said. "In some cases though, I'm able to get up the field and that feels nice to try and get some shots off. I like defense too, so I just do what I can for the team."

FRIDAY AT HOUSTON BAPTIST

The Huskies are 9-5-1 this season, 7-3 in conference play for second place in the standings. HBU will enter Friday's match on two days of rest after losing to Lamar on Wednesday night 2-1.

Second in conference standings, the Huskies will have a bye at the Southland Conference Tournament. HBU leads the conference in least saves per game, so the Islanders will need to make their shots count against a sound-defensive team.

Sabriah Spencer has netted nine goals for the Huskies, while Alanis Guevara and Katie Turner have split time in goal this season.

"We've seen HBU several times in conference and spring games," added Caldwell. "We're familiar with their program and how they run their system. It comes back to what our execution is going to be, how crisp we're going to be on and off the ball.

"We will need to stay mentally sharp while we're on the road and making sure that we have our classwork done before leaving. This late in the season, it comes down to the execution of little things on and off the field."

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