TLU Uses Dominant First Half to Sink Southwestern, 2-1
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Texas Lutheran (4-2-3, 0-0-0) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
|
Southwestern (Tex.) (3-6-1, 0-0-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran women's soccer picked up its fourth win of the season Friday night, defeating the Southwestern Pirates by a 2-1 margin to pick up the program's first win at Southwestern since 2018.
The Bulldogs improve to 4-2-3 and currently sit in first place in the SCAC with one more non-conference match on the schedule. Following the defeat, Southwestern dropped to 3-6-1 overall.
Following last season's two wins, this is the Bulldogs third straight victory over the Pirates - the longest streak against the Pirates since joining the SCAC in 2013.
The Pirates out shot the Bulldogs 21-13 and held an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal, but the Bulldogs were able to be more accurate and strike early. Freshman Alysa Marquez (Miami, FL/Dr. Michael Krop) played the full 90 minutes and made a career-high eight saves for the Bulldogs.
Sophomore Klarissa Martinez (Houston/Incarnate Word Academy) got the scoring started with a 12th minute goal to give the Bulldogs the early lead. The goal is Martinez's fourth of the season, a mark that only trails her teammate Alyssa Simien in the SCAC.
Martinez would make her presence felt once again in the 34th minute assisting freshman Natalia Cortez's (Edinburg/Robert Vela) first career goal, a tally that ultimately proved to be her first career-game winner as well. Cortez is the sixth Bulldog to appear on the TLU scoresheet this season.
Texas Lutheran's two-score lead carried them into halftime and despite the barrage of shots from the Pirates, the Bulldogs remained in control. The Pirates were able to cut the TLU lead in half in the 64th-minute, but the Bulldog back line was able to stand tall for the remainder of the contest to ensure the Bulldogs win.
Texas Lutheran travels to Trinity on Sunday, Oct, 1, for their final tune-up ahead of SCAC play next weekend. The match is set for a 12 PM kick at Paul McGinlay Field and will be streamed on Trinity's Tiger Network. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For all updates on Texas Lutheran Women's Soccer, follow @tluwsoc on X (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 X (Twitter), @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).