By Wes Bloomquist  ||  wes.bloomquist@angelo.edu

SAN ANGELO – Mired in a scoreless battle for the first 74 minutes of play, the No. 14-ranked Angelo State soccer team erupted with a flurry of goals in the final 16 minutes to run away with a 4-0 non-conference win over St. Mary's on Sunday at the ASU Soccer Field.

The Belles (6-0-0) have now scored four or more goals in each of their first six games and are outscoring their opponents 28-3 this season. The team also matched the program's all-time win streak and surpassed the total goal count from the entirety of last season with Sunday's four-goal performance. ASU, which won last year's Lone Star Conference regular-season championship, claimed the title despite scoring only 27 goals in 18 games. Sunday's scoring came on a two-goal game from Sierra Anderson and one goal each from Brianne Brown and Jenny Kotowych against the Rattlers (1-4-0).

"The girls did a great job of creating chances and finishing in the second half," ASU head coach Travis McCorkle said. "We were able to create some chances in the first half, but our finishing just wasn't there. We were mishitting some shots in the first half, but in the second half we were able to capitalize. There was some change in our organization and that change in system also proved to be an important factor in the game."

Angelo State, which was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season, has now won three games this year by a 4-0 margin to go along with its 8-0 win on Friday against Oklahoma Christian. The team's win matched the all-time consecutive win streak which was established by the 2009 team and it also extends the program's record of four or more goals in a game at any point in a season.

Shantel Wittke earned her third shutout in goal for the Rambelles and finished the game with five saves. Wittke faced two shots in the first half and three in the second half to help ASU to its fourth shutout of the second and the second straight. Natalie Nielsen earned the team's shutout against OC.

"We were working really hard out there and kept getting the ball out of our area," Wittke said. "We had the mentality to keep the ball out of the back and didn't let up. I feel like our defensive unit is really communicating well and has everyone's back. If someone misses a ball or lets a player past them then there is a teammate there to help recover."

Kotowych broke the scoreless game with a penalty kick goal in the 74th minute after Brown had been fouled in the box after taking a pinpoint pass from Dang. Kotowych, who now has two goals this season, went to the lower-left corner as the St. Mary goalkeeper tried unsuccessfully to adjust her initial thought of diving right. Brown gave ASU a two-goal cushion six minutes later, taking a pass from Loni Byer, and making a couple of nice moves before taking a left-footed kick into the lower right corner of the Rattler goal.


The next two goals came with the combination of Anderson and Tiffany Dang. In the 83rd minute, Dang executed a perfect setup for Anderson who converted her second goal of the season and then just two minutes later Dang once again found a streaking Anderson who sent in ASU's fourth goal.  

"I was really just trying to win the ball because I knew that I'd be able to find a shot or Sierra for a shot," Dang said. "It worked out both times with Sierra scoring."
Anderson, who now has 12 goals in her three seasons at ASU, said she was simply working to put herself in position for Dang but also knew her teammate could have taken the shots and scored.

"Honestly, I wanted her to shoot it herself," Anderson said. "Tiffany is a really good player who knows where to put the ball. I had confidence in her to make the shot if she took it, but also confidence in her to pass it to me in good position. She gave me great passes and I just finished them."

Angelo State finished the game with an 18-7 shot advantage, including a 6-3 advantage in the first half. Anderson led ASU with five shots, Kathleen Keoughan added four more and Kotowych put pressure on St. Mary's with three shots. Byers recorded her second assist of the season in the win and the Rambelles are now 4-for-5 on penalty kicks after Kotowych's on Sunday.

"Our team was really composed throughout the game," said ASU sophomore defender Ashley Exford, who played all 90 minutes along with Wittke and fellow defender Brittany Martinez. "We did a great job of playing it wide and keeping away from our net."

Despite the six first-half shots, McCorkle said the team's offensive mentality needed improvement from the first 45 to the final horn to earn the result.  

"We are always making notes in the first half and then talk to them at halftime," McCorkle said. "I felt like we had some room for improvement in our work rate. I thought St. Mary's was playing hard and outworking us to get to the ball and we needed to make that improvement if we were going to win the game. Our team did a great job of stepping up their work rate and that led to us earning the win."

Angelo State is now set to start Lone Star Conference play with Midwestern State coming to San Angelo on Friday at the ASU Soccer Field. The Mustangs (3-0-3) and Rambelles were LSC co-champions last season after the teams split their regular-season meetings and both finished with 7-2-1 conference records. ASU will also host Texas-Permian Basin next Sunday in a 1 p.m. non-conference game.