CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team kept the good vibes rolling on Sunday evening, coming back from an early deficit to take down Our Lady of the Lake and finish out their season-opening homestand unbeaten.
With the win, the Islanders (3-0-2) put themselves on 11 points through their first five matches, surpassing their mark of nine from the 2022 campaign as the most at this point of a season in program history. They also got themselves more than halfway to their point total from all of 2025, when they recorded 21 across 19 matches.
Starting out the match with much of its typical starting lineup on the bench, A&M-Corpus Christi ended up finding itself in a quick hole, surrendering the first goal of the game in the 15
th minute to fall into a deficit of any kind for the first time since its opener against Tarleton State back on August 12. The team brought on more of the regulars a short time after this and started to turn the momentum in its favor, starting with a shot from
Jessiny Aguillon that banged off the crossbar to narrowly miss a quick equalizer.
This pressure finally got the best of the Saints (2-2) in the 28
th minute, when the Islanders leveled the score at one apiece thanks to a familiar face in
Katie Porter, who continued her dream start to 2026 by making it five straight games with a goal to open the year. The forward was set up this time on a very nice run from
Grace Clay, who dribbled past her defender with some nice footwork and sent in a pass from the end line that Porter tapped home with a one-timer that rolled just past the keeper and into the back of the net. With the goal, Porter tallied her 12
th point of the young season, doubling up her career total coming into the year and already surpassing the team leader from 2025 in
Madison Page, who recorded 11 in 19 matches and more than 1200 minutes.
The score alleviated a lot of the pressure from the Islanders, who continued to find their rhythm after this, just narrowly missing another goal two minutes later when
Ashley Wilson knifed through the defense and took an attempt that hit the right post and again late in the first half after Clay had three different tries at goal narrowly sent back in a five-minute span. None of these chances found the net, though, sending the two teams into the break still in locked in a stalemate.
Out of the half, A&M-Corpus Christi continued to chip away at finding the go-ahead score, coming dangerously close once again in the 59
th minute when Wilson hit the woodwork for the second time on the day. Still searching as the second half progressed after this, the team got a big boost in its pursuit, as OLLU's Alexzia Gamez was shown a yellow card at the 75-minute mark and then got issued another one for a different foul just two minutes later, sending her off on a red card and putting the hosts at a man advantage for the remainder of the night.
As it turned out, this turn of events was all that the Islanders needed to get over the hill after so many near misses, as they finally struck paydirt just a minute after the Saints went down to 10 players. The goal was set up on a corner kick taken by Wilson, with the midfielder sending a beautiful ball into the box right to the head of
Mackenzie Mackreth, who skied above everyone else and banged the pass home to put the blue and green up 2-1. This was Mackreth's first goal with the program after transferring in prior to the season, and it proved to be the game-winning score, as the Islanders were able to ride the advantage the remaining time and secure the victory as the final buzzer sounded.
Even with the slow start, A&M-Corpus Christi had arguably its best game from an attacking standpoint so far, putting up 24 shots in total and 12 on goal to mark new season highs in both categories. Seven different players ended up recording multiple shots on the day, a group led by Wilson with four and both Clay and
Dakota Merino with three apiece. On the other side, freshman
Addie Brown recorded her first career win in net in her debut start, shaking off the early goal and holding the Saints off the board the rest of the way while recording her first two saves at the collegiate level.
The Islanders will now finally hit the road for the first time on the season, heading out west for a two-game trip to California that starts on Thursday at 9 p.m. CT against CSU Bakersfield.
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