ABILENE, TX- The McNeese Soccer squad (2-3-1, 2-2-1 SLC) fought hard in a 1-0 loss on Sunday afternoon at Abilene Christian (5-4-1, 1-2-0 SLC). McNeese remained gritty but in the 64
th minute ACU's Christina Arteaga scored the only goal of the match to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
The Cowgirls end their weekend road trip 0-1-1 after a Friday night draw at Incarnate Word and Sunday's 1-0 loss. The Cowgirls will take the road once again next weekend to face the Lady Lions of Southeastern Louisiana on Friday night.
1st HALF: Things got physical early on and remained that way for the entirety of Sunday's contest. The Pokes displayed great physicality on Sunday but looked to be a little winded at the end of both halves. Late in the first half Arteaga took a shot from the left side of the box that looked like it would drop right into the top corner of the goal. Senior goalkeeper,
Emma Roccaforte, came up with an incredible diving save to keep the game tied at zero before halftime.
"We knew that it would be physical," said head coach
Drew Fitzgerald. "We knew the refs would have to be locked in for the entire match. We did run ourselves out a little as they went deep into their bench, but I thought we responded very well to the physicality in general."
2nd HALF: McNeese knew heading into Sunday that the key to stopping ACU was to keep Arteaga out of the offense, which is by no means an easy task. The Abilene senior is a three-time first team All-conference selection. The Wildcats found what they were looking for 19 minutes into the second half when Arteaga used her crafty footwork to cut inside and score. Senior defender
Anna Watson did a great job in defending Arteaga until a foul injured Watson and allowed Arteaga to take advantage of that side of the pitch.
"We knew we had to keep her out (Arteaga) and not let her cut inside. Anna did a great job, but our subs needed to do a better job of understanding what the job was. Overall, our team played one of our better matches today," said Fitzgerald.
STATS:
Goals: 64' Arteaga
Assists: Wright (1)
Saves: Roccaforte (5), Smith (3)
Shots: MCN 12(3), ACU 15(6)
