Callie Smith scored a goal and recorded an assist in her first weekend of play forthe Angelo State soccer team. Smith is one of eight freshmen who made an immediateimpact for the Rambelles who enter this week's games with a 2-0 record." alt="12474" src="/common/controls/image_handler.aspx?thumb_id=14&image_path=/images/2014/9/10/DM1_5776.jpg" />

SAN ANGELO – Winning by a combined score of 8-2 in the first two games of the season is an impressive start, but the Angelo State soccer team knows a season is not made on the success of the first weekend of action.

The Rambelles (2-0) will look to carry momentum from victories over Adams State and New Mexico Highlands into this week where they'll stay within the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference by playing Fort Lewis College and Colorado Mesa in neutral field games on the Dallas Baptist campus. ASU and FLC (1-0-1) will play at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday before the Rambelles take on the Mavericks (0-1-1) at noon on Saturday at the Patriot Soccer Field in Dallas. Both games are in-region contests and could prove important during NCAA regional tournament bids in November.

"We really want to continue doing the things we did well last weekend," ASU head coach Travis McCorkle said. "I thought we did a great job defensively as a team and I thought were dynamic on offense. I'd really like to see those habits continue against Fort Lewis and Mesa."

Angelo State, which is in its 20th season in program history, has only started a season with a 3-0 record once (1998) and has never initiated a campaign with a 4-0 mark. A win over the Skyhawks would match the best start in ASU's program history, while another sweep against RMAC opponents would establish a new record for the Rambelles. ASU started the 1998 season with wins over Hardin-Simmons (1-0), College of the Southwest (5-0) and Texas Lutheran (5-1) before dropping a 1-2 decision in overtime to St. Mary's in San Antonio.

ASU is coming off its first Lone Star Conference title last season and will start a six-game home stand after this week's games in Dallas. The Rambelles begin that home schedule with a 7 p.m. game against Oklahoma Christian on Friday, Sept. 19 and a noon game against St. Mary's on Sunday, Sept. 21 at the ASU Soccer Field.

 
 
RAMBELLE ROSTER REPORT
Haley Mendel led the Rambelles in their first weekend of action with three goals and an assist. The sophomore, who did not score as a freshman, netted two goals and an assist against Adams State before getting ASU on the board with an early goal in the 4-0 trouncing of New Mexico Highlands. A midfielder, Mendel finished the weekend with six shots after attempting only seven throughout her freshman season. She had a .500 shot percentage in the two games.

Caitlyn Conaway, who has been one of the strongest defenders on the ASU roster the past three seasons, anchored a defense which allowed only two goals and had a shutout last weekend. She also scored her career's second goal when she sent a shot into the back of the nets against NMHU on her only shot of the weekend. The goal was her first since she scored on Oct. 5, 2012 against Texas Woman's. Ashely Exford and Cynthia Andrews, who are both sophomores from Fort Worth, also scored the second goal of their careers last weekend. A defender by trade, Exford struck from about 35 yards out to give ASU a 3-0 lead over Adams State. Missing last season as a redshirt, Exford's goal was her first since she scored against Midwestern State on Sept. 14, 2012. Andrews scored her career's first goal last season in a home game against West Texas A&M. Fellow sophomores Jenny Kotowych and Kathleen Keoughan and senior Brianne Brown added an assist for the Rambelles.

A wealth of young talent was realized for the ASU soccer team during the first weekend of play with freshmen Loni Byers and Callie Smith scoring the first goals of their careers, while Smith, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Amalia Garcia each recorded their first assists. Smith scored her goal on a penalty kick against fellow freshman Tiffany Dang was fouled in the box. Byers, Brown and Keoughan each had three shots during the two games.

"I saw a lot of positives last week with the freshmen," McCorkle said. "I think it's important for them to understand the length of the season and the consistency it's going to take every game to be a great team. We got great results last week, but now we move on to new games that have nothing to do with how we played in the past. It's important for them to keep moving forward and progressing."

In goal, it was Shantel Wittke who played all 180 minutes during the first weekend of play. An Arizona native who started her career at Arkansas-Little Rock, Wittke made 13 saves and posted the shutout against NMHU. The shutout was the first of her career and she finished the two-game set with a .867 saves percentage.

The first weekend of action saw eight freshmen, seven sophomores, three juniors and three seniors on the playing field for ASU. The Rambelles finished the two games with a 27-15 shot advantage over their opponents and scored five of their eight shots in the first half to jump out to leads.

 

Post by Angelo Sports.

FORT LEWIS COLLEGE SKYHAWKS
Thursday  @ 4:30 p.m.  //  Dallas Baptist's Patriot Soccer Field
Angelo State and Fort Lewis will meet on Thursday in a neutral field game at Dallas Baptist University. FLC is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend at its home tournament after earning a 2-1 win over Texas Woman's and then playing to a 0-0 draw against Midwestern State. Carolyn Archer scored the first goal of the season for the Skyhawks off a header just 22 minutes into action against TWU before Courtney Riley delivered the game-winner off an assist from Kyleigh Wierenga in the 71st minute of play. Goalkeeper Caitlyn Espinosa made four saves against the Pioneers, while Kodie Johnson pitched a shutout in goal for Fort Lewis against Midwestern State (0-0-2). Despite not scoring a goal against the Mustangs, Fort Lewis had 28 shots with 12 being on goal against MSU. On the flipside, Midwestern State managed only three shots on goal.

The Skyhawks are coming off a season where they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Championships after securing a 16-6 overall record and going 10-4 in RMAC play last year. The team finished third in the RMAC standings behind Colorado School of Mines 14-0 RMAC) and Metro State (10-3-1 RMAC). The Skyhawks went 3-0 against LSC opponents last season with wins over Texas A&M-Commerce, Midwestern State and taking a 1-0 double-overtime win over the Rambelles in San Angelo. FLC holds a 2-3-4 all-time advantage over ASU after a penalty kick strike from Sam Weiss secured the win for the Skyhawks last season. Fort Lewis fell 0-1 to St. Edward's in overtime in the regional tournament in Durango, Colorado to see its season end. FLC is led by head coach Jimmy Hall who replaced Damian Clarke who took over the Midwestern State program in July.
 
COLORADO MESA MAVERICKS
Saturday, Sept. 13 @ Noon  //  Dallas Baptist's Patriot Soccer Field
In ASU's second game at Dallas Baptist and fourth of the season, the Rambelles will take on Colorado Mesa at noon on Saturday. Angelo State took a 2-0 win over CMU last season with goals from Maggie Schaffer and Brianne Brown at the ASU Soccer Field. Despite Angelo's win, the Mavericks maintain a 6-2-0 all-time advantage over the Rambelles in the all-time series.

The Mavericks are coming off a weekend where they went 0-1-1 against Lone Star Conference completion at the Fort Lewis Women's Soccer Classic in Durango, Colorado. CMU started the season with a 2-2 draw against Midwestern State before falling 0-2 to Texas Woman's. Sarah Pope scored the first goal of Mesa's season in the 31st minute of play against MSU before Darion Wiegert tied the game in the 79th minute. Goalkeeper Sarah Schnetzler recorded two saves for the Mavericks in the tie, while the CMU offense had 12 shots on goal.

Colorado Mesa went 7-11-0 last season and had a 6-8-0 record in RMAC play. Away from home, they went 3-6-0 and were 0-3 against LSC schools with defeats to Angelo State, Midwestern State and A&M-Commerce. The Mavericks will be led by Jason Clare this season who is in his first season as their head coach after working as the team's assistant coach last year. CMU is where ASU head coach Travis McCorkle earned his bachelor's degree and also founded the men's club soccer team. Colorado Mesa will play Dallas Baptist on Thursday before playing the Rambelles.