Martinez and Simien's Braces Lift TLU to First Win of 2024

MARSHALL , Texas -- Texas Lutheran women's soccer dominated on both ends of the field to muster its first victory of the 2024 season Friday night as the Bulldogs downed the East Texas Baptist Tigers, 4-1, at Cornish Field in Marshall, Texas.

With the win, Texas Lutheran picks up its first win over ETBU since 2015. The Bulldogs take the all-time series lead against the Tigers, now holding an all-time record of 8-7-2 against the Tigers. The Bulldogs improve to 1-2-1 on the season while the Tigers fall to 2-2 in defeat.

Twenty-three Bulldog student-athletes saw the field in Friday night's contest, highlighted by the collegiate debut appearance of redshirt freshman midfielder Tila Hendrus (New Braunfels/Canyon), who saw her first minutes since suffering a season-ending injury during training a season ago.

The Bulldogs were led offensively by 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees, Alyssa Simien (San Antonio/Warren) and Klarissa Martinez (Houston/Incarnate Word Academy), who would record their first braces of the season.

Texas Lutheran was efficient in its attacking opportunities, registering a total of 17 shots on the night with 13 of them recorded as shots on goal. The Bulldogs surrendered just eight shots defensively with three on target.

Alysa Marquez (Miami, FL/Dr. Michael Krop) would get the start in goal and record one save and pick up the win while senior Charleigh Phipps (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) would start the second half for the Bulldogs in goal before freshman Skylar LeBlanc (League City/Clear Falls) would enter for the final 22 minutes.

It was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs offense as Simien netted her two goals in the first half, getting the Bulldogs on the board with a 24th minute goal before following up with her second of the night in the 35th minute. With the two goals, Simien moves into a tie for fifth all-time in career goals in program history, bringing her career total to 29 goals - tying Dani Matthews (2006-10). Simien's second goal would act as the game-winner, which is her 11th as a Bulldog, moving her into a tie for fourth all-time in program history - tying Angie Valencia (2001-04).

ETBU would avoid the shutout with an early 49th minute goal in the second half, but it would be Martinez's turn to take over the Bulldogs offense as an offensive explosion from Klarissa Martinez would put the match out of reach. Martinez would score her first goal on a 64th minute penalty kick before scoring again four minutes later in the 68th minute to bring the match to its final score of 4-1.

Texas Lutheran will continue non-conference play on Sunday, Sept. 15, as they travel to Richardson to face UT-Dallas at 12 PM. All streaming and live stream links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For all updates on Texas Lutheran Women's Soccer, follow @tluwsoc on Twitter and Instagram and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).