CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team could not pick up its first win of Southland Conference play against McNeese on Sunday afternoon, falling behind early and being unable to climb out of the hole in what ended up being a 2-0 defeat.
 
The Islanders (3-5-3, 0-2-1 SLC) had ample opportunity to get themselves on the board early on in the game, holding possession in the attacking half and working themselves into four separate corner kicks in quick succession right around the 19-minute mark. Not long after this, they were awarded a free kick after a yellow card shown to the Cowgirls' (7-5-0, 2-1-0 SLC) Isabella Baltov and nearly broke through, seeing a header from Katie Porter deep in the box bounce off the right woodwork before a foul right after ended the threat just inches away from the opening goal.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi kept up the pressure after this by earning three more corner kicks to push its total up to seven in the first 45 minutes, but it could not capitalize on any of them, leaving the door open for McNeese to open the scoring on the other end. The visitors first struck in the 36^th minute on a corner kick that eventually found the foot of Alexandra Arvanitis after a scrum in the box, and they would then get back on the board three minutes later, as Sumayah Brown found a redirect on a nice save from keeper Addie Brown and one-timing it home to send the hosts into a two-goal deficit at the break.
 
Staring at a tall climb back into things, the Islanders could not find the spark they needed, failing to find the back of the net over the final 45. The best chance at this came in the 62^nd minute when Porter headed a long pass to a streaking Ashley Wilson, who attempted a one-timer that forced a fingertip save from keeper Shannon Dempsey that just kept them from cutting McNeese's advantage in half. Isabella Castellanos Lopes and Dakota Merino also had shots on goal before the final buzzer sounded, but neither managed to get past Dempsey and the Cowgirls' defense.
 
The Islanders did not finish far behind their opponents in final shot total, attempting 10 and putting five on goal against 13 and seven respectively on the other side. Castellanos Lopes led the way for the team with two shots on goal, while Wilson, Merino and Natalie Taylor tacked on one apiece. In net, Brown recorded five saves, doing so while posting a clean sheet in the second half.
 
The Islanders will now wrap up their three-match homestand on Thursday, welcoming Southeastern Louisiana to town for a match that kicks off at 7 p.m.
 
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