CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In a game that went deep into the night, the fifth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer program and fourth-seeded Northwestern State played to a 1-1 tie after two overtime periods, but the Lady Demons prevailed 4-2 in a penalty shootout Wednesday in quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Championship at Dugan Stadium.
It wrapped-up a 2023 campaign which saw the Islanders play shorthanded most of the way due to injuries.
"The team gave me everything they had. The amount of girls that came off with a kick or got hurt and came back on and gave me more – I couldn't be more proud of this team and what we've done this season. Tonight showed just how much we fight for each other and the amount we're going to do over the next few years with this team," said head coach
Craig Shaw. "It's going to be a bright future and I'm very excited to start working with these girls in the spring."
A&M-Corpus Christi got on the board first early in the second half on a goal by sophomore
Mai-Lisa Atis. It came off an extended set pieces play as the Lady Demons were able to block a few shots back out of the box, but eventually senior
Molly Arens found Atis open on the left edge of the penalty area who fired a ball into the far right corner for the score.
It was Atis' team-leading fifth goal of the season and She also finished the year with a team-high 11 points.
The Lady Demons answered in the 69th minute on a hard shot by Emme' Fernandez from the right side of the box into the top left corner.
Still tied 1-1 after regulation, the Islanders outshot Northwestern State 4-1 in a pair of 10-minute overtime periods but the game remained deadlocked. The Lady Demons were able to finish on top in a shootout after goalkeeper Libe Banuelos managed to make a pair of saves.
Junior
Zoe Theriot turned in a stellar outing for A&M-Corpus Christi in net and kept the team alive with seven saves. She was one of three Islanders to play all 110 minutes along with defenders
Emma Crump and
Olivia Hughes.
Back on the offensive end, nine different Islanders recorded a shot as the team totaled 15. It included five from Atis and a pair from juniors
Megan Guy and
Storm Harris.
A&M-Corpus Christi finished the regular season in a three-way tie for fourth-place in the SLC standings. It was two spots better than last season when the program placed sixth.
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