Islanders Late Comeback Bid Comes Up Short

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A second half surge from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi nearly brought the Islanders back from an early two-goal deficit this Friday, as the Blue and Green fall 2-1 in regulation to Abilene Christian.

Plagued by a myriad of injuries, Islanders Head Coach Craig Shaw was forced to look onto his bench for added minutes in this weekend's contest with ACU. Freshman goalkeeper Kyleigh Hall was brought off redshirt to earn her first career start in net, while senior Andi Bethard grabbed her first start of the 2017 season on the backline. With 17 newcomers arrived to the Island this offseason, Shaw has now played all but two of those fresh faces, including 13 freshman overall. 

The evening started off poorly for the hosts with the Wildcats jumping out to an early lead in the opening five minutes of play. A low driven cross from Chloe Fifer found the foot of ACU leading goal-scorer Dylan Owens, to put the Blue and Green at an early disadvantage. Owens would again come in play just five minutes later, pocketing a rebound off a shot from teammate Brooke Lenz. Unable to produce a shot in the first half, the Blue and Green were forced to take a 2-0 deficit into the break, the first time the side has entered halftime behind by multiple goals since its season opener at Rice. 

The second half would be an entirely different story for the home team as the Islanders came out with an unrelenting flow of offense in the latter 45. The opening 20 minutes of the second term were held fully in control by the Blue and Green, with midfielder Abby Deakin the first to test the ACU keeper on the night. After a well played cross from fellow freshman Mariah Ramon, a deflected ball fell to Deakin's feet just inside the six, but her shot was swallowed up by the Wildcat goalie before the Colorado native could create enough space for a more accurate attempt. 

With Corpus Christi smelling blood in the water, the Islander offense continued to hound the Wildcats for the proceeding 25 minutes, steering another three shots on net through the remainder of the evening. Ramon would create another chance late in competition off of a high-hanging corner kick to freshman forward Kayla Gove. Gove's initial attempt would be parried away before a second attempt from defender Alexis Urch would again be halted by the goaltender. A sloppy clearance by the ACU defense would came directly back to Ramon however, who again delivered a superb cross to Gove standing just atop the six yard box. The roaming forward would not be denied a second time, redirecting her teammate's ball with a perfectly timed header just inside the left post, for her second tally of the year in the 81st. 

With time waning the Islanders continued to bring players up, but faced a Wildcat squad that seemed more than content to take home a 2-1 win. The visitors did all within their power to melt out the final nine minutes, and the Blue and Green were forced to take a loss home for the night.
 

• Freshman Mariah Ramon now leads the islanders with three assists on the year. Ramon can become the program record holder with just one more helper in her remaining five matches of the regular season
• All of Ramon's assists have come off corners this season either directly or otherwise, and her lone goal came on a free kick against Texas State. That's four of 11 tallies coming off of set pieces this year for the Islanders
• Kayla Gove is now tied with Katie Lawrence and Kaitlyn Joy for the most Islander goals on the season
• After giving up a pair early, freshman goalkeeper Kyleigh Hall responded with the experience of a seasoned veteran, composing herself for three saves and 80 minutes of shutout play to close out the night
• Urch' shot near the end of the match is her first of the season. The redshirt-junior played all 90 minutes of Friday's contest, and has competed in 1,055 of Corpus Christi's 1,140 minutes of play in 2017 (92.5%)
• Hall is the 13th freshman to earn a start for the Islanders this season, and the third keeper to do so for the Blue and Green in 2017
• With a 1-4-1 record in Southland play this year, the Islanders sit just two points out of a conference tournament spot in 10th place
• With the 66th appearance of her career, redshirt-senior Brooke Erdmann is just five caps away from setting a new career school record

COMING UP NEXT
Corpus Christi heads back out on the road next week with a pair of away matches at Central Arkansas and Northwestern State. 

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