CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team earned its first win of the 2026 season in style on Sunday night, exploding offensively in the second half to cruise to a 4-0 victory over Texas A&M International.
Following up their season opener in which they erased a two-goal deficit to earn a tie against Tarleton State on Monday, the Islanders (1-0-1) took some time to really find their rhythm against the Dustdevils, getting a few shots off on the opposing net over the first portion of the opening half but failing to convert any into the opening score of the night. This changed in a hurry once the 19
th minute rolled around, as after a quick scramble,
Natalie Taylor found herself with the ball outside the box and launched a try that forced a sprawling save from the TAMIU keeper. The ensuing rebound was not controlled, though, and it ended up at the feet of
Emma Lucero, who one-timed it home to open the scoring for either side.
This would be the only goal of the first half for A&M-Corpus Christi, but the hosts really ramped up the pressure out of the break, opening up the floodgates for two goals in quick succession to stretch out their lead even further. The first of these came seemingly out of nowhere in the 60
th minute, as after a drop ball restart after an injury,
Isabel McNeal quickly found
Zahria Fuller with a feed, who banged it home from well outside the box to double up the lead. This marked a pair of firsts, representing Fuller's first collegiate goal in her second ever game and McNeal's first point at the Division I level.
Still riding high from this score, the Islanders decided to keep the heat on, starting a counterattack off a turnover just six minutes later. Leading the charge on the ball was
Averi Scruggs, with the freshman lifting a well-placed pass into the box and deep into threatening territory. In the ensuing fight for positioning,
Katie Porter emerged above the rest, leaping for a header and sending it into the right side of the goal to make it a 3-0 game. This was Porter's second goal in as many games to start the year, and like Fuller before her, it also represented Scruggs's first point of her freshman year.
Now possessing a comfortable cushion, the Islanders put the cherry on top of a fantastic night in the 79
th minute, scoring for the fourth time thanks to some very nice passing on multiple fronts. The run started in the defensive half, when
Isabella Castellanos Lopes sent an accurate pass up to Porter near the halfway line. The Islanders' captain then distributed a beautiful ball up the field for
Natalie Nyberg, who only needed to tap her first touch past the keeper for her first goal in the blue and green and the team's final one on the day.
A&M-Corpus Christi's dominance on the offensive end was illustrated well in the stat sheet, outshooting TAMIU 21-3 in total and putting 10 on target as opposed to just one on the other end. The team shared the love on that end as well, with eight different players getting on the board with at least one point. Porter led the way with three on her goal and assist, making it five for her in total on the young season to surpass her previous high of three set for an entire season during her sophomore campaign at Marshall in 2024. Beyond her, four different Islanders got on the board with their first points with the team, with those being Fuller, McNeal, Scruggs and Nyberg.
Not to be overshadowed, the Islanders also put in a very nice shift defensively, notching their first clean sheet of the year after recording three in 19 games in 2025. In net,
Jessie Spurrell worked a spotless first two-thirds of the match while recording one save, and
Addie Brown came in relief in the 67
th minute and took things to the finish line with no trouble in her first taste of action in her freshman campaign.
The Islanders will now use the next week to prepare for their next nonconference showdown, continuing their season-opening homestand next Sunday afternoon with a matchup against Prairie View A&M.
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