EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team picked up a huge win with one of its best performances of the season on Sunday afternoon, putting together a high-flying first half and holding on down the stretch to earn a 3-2 victory over UTRGV in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The Islanders (4-8-4, 2-4-2 SLC) started their offensive attack right from the opening whistle, getting their first chance at the four-minute mark on a run into Vaqueros (5-9-3, 2-5-2 SLC) territory from redshirt senior
Madison Page. The forward would send a cross into the box that deflected off the right post, where it would then ricochet its way right to the head of freshman
Emma Lucero, who put in the rebound for her first collegiate goal. This marked the second-fastest score of the season for the team, behind only the 61 seconds it took sophomore
Cilia Leal to open the scoring against Texas A&M-San Antonio on August 24.
A&M-Corpus Christi would not let up from here, either, scoring twice more before the half ended to go into the locker room with a commanding 3-0 lead. The second goal of the day happened just under seven minutes after the first, with this one coming when Page stepped up to the spot after a UTRGV foul in the box and converted on a penalty kick for her team-leading fourth score of the year. Senior
Mai-Lisa Atis completed the trifecta in the 34
th minute, taking a corner kick from junior
Ashley Wilson and heading it past the keeper for her third goal of the season and 16
th of her career with the program, moving her into third place all time in school history. This was also Wilson's third assist in the past five matches, bringing her into a tie for fourth all time in that category with a total of seven in her time on the Island.
Entering the second half with a big advantage, the Islanders did not let off the gas, drawing a trio of free kicks and getting a shot on goal from sophomore
Alisa Divano all in just the first 10 minutes out of the break. After this, however, the Vaqueros would begin to flip the momentum, starting their comeback effort with a pair of goals in under a minute to suddenly cut the visitors' lead to just one. This forced A&M-Corpus Christi to buckle down defensively in the final stretch of the match, an effort that was greatly aided by a big-time save from sophomore keeper
Jessie Spurrell, who punched a shot on goal over the crossbar in the 82
nd minute that would have equalized the score had she not gotten her fingers on the try. The Islanders were able to hold on after this close call, drawing four late fouls that helped them bleed the rest of the clock out and walk away with the big road victory.
"The team deserved this result today, the staff and I are so proud of them," Islanders head coach
Daniel Clitnovici said. "To come out and take a 3-0 lead at halftime shows the energy the team brought with them today. It was a top performance and a justifiable result."
The three goals that the team scored in the first half on Sunday matched its second-most in any period this season, tied with the three it put home in the first half against Lamar on October 2 and just behind the four in the second half from the aforementioned game against A&M-San Antonio back in August. As for the whole game, the Islanders were actually outshot 16-10 by UTRGV, but they were able to put the same amount of tries on target to help make up the difference.
Individually, Page helped catalyze the offense, recording a goal and an assist to bring her points total on the year up to a team-leading 11. Atis also got on the scoreboard with her goal and tied for the team lead on the day with three total shots, a mark that was matched by only freshman
MyJoi Anderson in just 31 minutes as a substitute. In net, Spurrell managed to make four saves on the 16 shots that she faced, most of which came in big situations to help the Islanders hang on to their lead to the end.
"Credit to UTRGV, they never gave up and came out flying in the second half," Clitnovici said. "We had to adjust a few things on our end to deal with their pressure, but I feel our defense held strong. I'm happy for the team and the result, because they deserved this today."
A&M-Corpus Christi will now look to continue its run toward the playoffs this week, heading back on the road one last time to square off with McNeese on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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