SAN ANGELO – The No. 3 Angelo State women's soccer team clinched the program's second Lone Star Conference Championship with a 1-0 victory over Texas Woman's at the ASU Soccer Field on Friday evening.
The Belles (14-1-1, 8-1 LSC) claimed its first outright LSC title by outshooting the Pioneers (9-6-2, 4-4-1 LSC) 13-12. ASU broke the school record with its eighth consecutive shutout. Angelo State has won eight straight matches and remains unbeaten at home at 6-0-0 while only allowing two goals at the ASU Soccer Field.
"This is special," Angelo State head women's soccer coach Travis McCorkle said on winning the championship. "I think this puts the cherry on top for this group. They have been such a fantastic group. They work so hard for each other and love being around each other. The girls are totally vested into this program and it shows by winning this championship."
The only goal of the match came early and off the second corner kick of the match. Kathleen Keoughan took the corner and put it towards the penalty area. Molly Warren came in and connected on a header to the far post in the third minute. It is Warren's first goal of the season and she is the 11th Belle to score a goal. Keoughan's assist was the second of the year for the junior.
"I wasn't going to go in (to the penalty area) initially but I was yelled at to go in," Warren said. "The ball was perfect and it went straight to my head and I just hit it in."
The Belles relied on its signature defense the rest of the way. Shantel Wittke earned her 10th shutout of the season and is now 11-1-1 on the year. The senior made three saves on the night. Opponents have been held scoreless for the last 797 minutes of regulation. ASU has shutout 11 opponents this season.
"Defense was awesome," McCorkle said. "I was proud of Callie (Smith) tonight. She had a couple of games where she was struggling but she had a great clearance early in the game tonight in the second half. You never know when the defense is going to make that one play that makes a difference but I'm sure we made them all tonight getting the shutout."
Eight Belles recorded a shot with Sierra Anderson leading the way with five shots. Demi Tsambasis took two while Haley Mendel, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Warren, Tiffany Dang and Loni Byers each had one shot.
ASU will now host the LSC Tournament Championship next weekend at the ASU Soccer Field starting on Thursday, Nov. 5. The Belles will close out the regular season with Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. for senior day. Students wearing a YMCA, SASA or ASU soccer camp jersey will receive free admission and parents and family will receive tickets for just $4.Â
