University Star

The Bobcat soccer team defeated the University of Texas at San Antonio in double overtime on Sunday in San Antonio to clinch the overall No. 3 seed in the WAC tournament.

Both teams were held to a stalemate in regulation and the first overtime period. The game would come down to the waning minutes of the last overtime half.

Junior midfielder Kelsie Townsend was able to corral a loose ball around the penalty box with 1:28 left in double overtime. Townsend took a shot toward the goal and sent the ball over the keeper’s head for the game winner. It was Townsend’s first goal of the season.

“We got fired up there at the end because we really wanted to score,” Townsend said after the game. “(The ball) built up from the defense and the midfield into the forwards, and it was bobbling around, and I just got on the end of it.”

Texas State had to withstand an aggressive attack from the Roadrunners the entire match, which saw UTSA take 21 shots, five of them on target.

“It was a great game,” said Coach Kat Conner. “UTSA came out very disciplined, very organized. They played a great game, and it’s very difficult to break down a team that is playing hard and working hard together. It was a great finish by Kelsie, and we’re trying to build off the momentum going into the tournament next week.”

Texas State took 17 shots and had 53 percent of its attempts on goal. The team took two more corner shots than the Roadrunners, 6-4, and junior goalkeeper Natalie Gardini had a successful game. Gardini pitched a shutout by accumulating five saves, which earned her WAC Goalie of the Week.

Gardini picked up her fifth win of the year and collected her fourth shutout of the season. This marked back-to-back weeks in which a Texas State player was recognized for a play on the field. Senior defender Alissa Scott was the Defender of the Week last week.

The Bobcats finished the regular season with an overall record of 7-11-1, and ended their first WAC conference season 4-4-0 to take third place in the conference.

The girls locked up the third seed by winning Sunday night and will play the sixth seed University of Idaho (6-13-1, 3-4-1) Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. in Logan, Utah.

Texas Sate and the Vandals opened up WAC play Sept. 28, and in the last nine minutes of the match the Bobcats achieved winning goals. The goals were made by their two leading scorers, freshman forward Lynsey Curry and sophomore midfielder Tori Hale. The nine-minute shift propelled the Bobcats to take the match 2-1 and gave the team its first ever win in the WAC.

Twitter: @odus_Outputs