THIBODAUX, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team insured an early goal with a pair in the second half to come away with a 3-0 shutout victory over Nicholls Friday night at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex.
The Islanders (7-4-5, 4-2-2 SLC) tacked on another in the win column with their second shutout in a row after posting the clean sheet against Nicholls (2-11-1, 0-8 SLC). It was helped by a flurry of three goals courtesy of freshman
Cilia Leal, junior
Mai-Lisa Atis, and freshman
Alisa Divano while senior
Zoe Theriot defended the net all 90 minutes for the 3-0 final score.
"We completed a really professional game tonight, the ladies were focused and delivered a good shutout," said head coach
Daniel Clitnovici. "As much as we talk about scoring, we really need to also value the clean sheet. Defending has been a focus for us these past few weeks and we are delivering and I hope it continues."
It is Theriot's seventh win and sixth shutout of the year. She entered the night already haven broken the program record in most shutouts and most wins in a season by a senior goalie, extending on those marks as well as her stance as conference leader in shutouts.
Leal struck first, getting through in the 29
th minute with the assist from senior
Cariana Pou with the shot to the low left corner. While the early lead would've held, insurance goals from Atis in the 61
st minute and from Divano in the 84
th helped give the Islanders three points towards the Southland Conference standings with just two games remaining in the regular season.
It marked Leal's third goal of the season, becoming the third Islander to score 3+ goals on the season. After being credited with the game-winning goal, she now records two on the year to match senior
Storm Harris's team-leading two. She now tallies seven points on the year.
Atis is now up to 12 goals in her career, with tonight's bringing her to three on the year. She is the fourth Islander to score 3+ goals on the season and seconds the team with eight points. She was assisted by senior
Storm Harris, her third of the season.
It is Divano's first-ever goal as the freshman defender finally recorded points through scoring after her previous three points were from a trio of assists this year. It was the team's goal-leader senior
Morgan Westbury who was able to assist the freshman's first career goal.
Westbury's assist was mutually beneficial as it extends her team lead in points to 14 this season. It is her seventh career assist and fourth this year, another team-leading statistic, the most she's ever recorded in a single season.
It marks A&M-Corpus Christi's sixth multi-goal game of the year and first since the team won 2-1 on the road at Texas A&M-Commerce back on Oct. 4. It is the second time in conference play this year that the Islanders score 3+ goals.
A&M-Corpus Christi now leads the Colonels 8-5-1 in the all-time series. The Islanders have won eight of the last night meetings and have not lost a game at Nicholls since the 2016 season.
The Islanders will close out their final trip of the season in an away finale Sunday at Southeastern, slated for 1 p.m.
"Playing on the road is hard wherever you go, so us showing up tonight and scoring three good goals was really great. We are really proud of the group, they keep showing up and putting in the work and it's starting to come together. We hope it can continue to Sunday," said Clitnovici.
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