Freedom New Mexico
ABILENE, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University’s second trip to the Lone Star Conference postseason women’s soccer tournament was as short as the first.
West Texas A&M’s Leslie Briggs aimed a corner kick at the goalpost and the ball slipped off the hands of ENMU senior goalkeeper Sierra Cardenas and into the net in the 78th minute, enough to give the sixth-seeded Lady Buffs a 1-0 victory over the third-seeded Zias in a quarterfinal matchup.
WT (9-9-1) plays an 11 a.m. (MDT) semifinal today against second-seeded Midwestern State (11-5-1), which had a first-round bye.
In its only previous trip to the tournament, ENMU lost to Texas A&M-Commerce 4-1 in 2006 at Edmond, Okla.
Statistically, the contest was relatively even. WT had a 20-14 edge in shots, including 10-9 on goal, while the Zias (8-8-3) notched a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
In Thursday’s other matchup, fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce advanced to a 1:30 p.m. (MDT) semifinal today against top-seeded Abilene Christian, winning a shootout from No. 5 Angelo State 4-3 after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through two overtimes.
The championship match is set for 11 a.m. (MST) on Sunday.
In all-conference awards announced at a pretournament banquet on Wednesday, ENMU landed junior defender Emily Simon on the first team, junior midfielder Andrea Elizondo on the second team and Cardenas on honorable mention.
