CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Securing its first conference win of the season and under first-year head coach
Daniel Clitnovici, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team connected thrice with the net to drive past McNeese in a 3-1 decision Friday night at the Dr. Jack Dugan Family Soccer and Track Stadium.
The Islanders (4-2-4, 1-0-1) netted a pair in the first half courtesy of junior
Mai-Lisa Atis and senior
Storm Harris before freshman
Maddy Howells stamped the win with a goal in the 64
th minute. The home team neared the clean sheet before the Cowgirls (3-8, 0-2) escaped the shutout with under 10 to play.
The three goals mark the most A&M-Corpus Christi has scored in a conference game since defeating Nicholls 4-0 in the 2022 season.
"This is a good win for Islanders Soccer," said Clitnovici. The reason I say that is because we focused on the little things that matter most and we were consistent in executing them. We had some players who haven't played much this season really step up to the plate and contribute off the bend and that played a big part tonight."
The first goal came after senior
Rachel Loetzer chipped it to Atis whose two-touch was on point as she side swiped it hard past the McNeese goalie for the 1-0 lead just three minutes into the night.
Extending it to a 2-0 advantage was Harris after the left-footed feed from senior
Ashley Wilson got her into opportune position. After crossing up the McNeese defender, Harris buried it to the top right with a hard-hit slider in the box.
Following a tough drive down field, freshman
Cilia Leal crossed it just enough to where Howells waited patiently to tap the slow roller into the bottom left corner of the net as the Islanders led it 3-nil with 25 minutes to go.
It marks Atis' and Harris' second goals of the season each, while Howells now ties for team-lead with three goals on the year. Loetzer recorded her third assist of the season, Wilson picked up her second, and Leal notched her first career assist.
Despite a valiant effort from senior
Zoe Theriot who played the full 90 in the box, McNeese managed to scrape in a goal at the 83rd minute to avoid being shutout. However, it was just Theriot's second allowed goal through the last 360 minutes of playing time.
The Islanders have continued to excel under Clitnovici, having it just the second time in program history that they didn't suffer a loss within the first two games of conference play after the team started 2-0 in the 2021 season. It comes after he got A&M-Corpus Christi off to its best season start ever after not dropping a decision within the first three games of the year.
A&M-Corpus Christi now controls the all-time series with McNeese, breaking the tie to lead it 6-5-3. It is their first win over the Cowgirls since 2021 after the squads tied each other in 2022 and 2023.
"McNeese is a strong opponent, and we had to set ourselves up to deal with their strengths. They have some special players, and we had to make sure we focused on them while still focusing on ourselves too," said Clitnovici.
Next up will be a challenging road swing for the Islanders, who will take off for the next two weeks at Texas A&M-Commerce, Lamar, and Stephen F. Austin before returning home on Oct. 18 against Northwestern State.
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