SAN ANGELO – The No. 10 Angelo State women's soccer team will host the winner of No. 25 Fort Lewis and St. Edward's in a NCAA Division II Second Round at the ASU Soccer Field on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
The Belles finished the season with the best regular season record in school history at 14-2-1 and won the program's second Lone Star Conference Championship. It is the third trip to the regional tournament in program history and the first time to secure bids in back-to-back seasons. ASU advanced to the NCAA Division II second round last season before falling to Texas A&M-Commerce. The other regional tournament appearance came in 2010 when ASU travelled to St. Edward's falling to Abilene Christian.
"This year we wanted to put ourselves in one of the best situations to win the conference tournament and the regional by hosting so that we would get that first round bye," ASU head soccer coach Travis McCorkle said. "We didn't take advantage of that last weekend during the conference tournament and I think that now the girls are very fortunate to have done everything that they have done this fall season to have that second chance at hosting and having that advantage. This week they are very focused in what they are doing and they are working hard in practice. We are going to push them so that they do realize the advantage that they have created for themselves."
ASU has relied on a defense that is No. 2 nationally in save percentage (.894), No. 12 in goals-against average (.486) and No. 14 in shutout percentage (.611). The Belles have only allowed nine goals on the season while scoring 37. Angelo State has shutout 11 opponents on the season including a school record eight straight during conference play.
Shantel Wittke, the LSC Goalkeeper of the Year, is 11-3-1 in goal this season. The senior is No. 3 nationally in save percentage at .910. She has a 0.43 goals-against average and has only allowed seven of ASU's nine goals. She has recorded 10 shutouts on the season. The LSC Defensive Player of the Year, Ashley Exford, has provided stability to a backline that includes Molly Warren, Callie Smith and Shay Williams.
The Belles, who have only scored two goals in their last three matches, have used a variety of scorers with 11 different players. Haley Mendel has led ASU with 10 goals and was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Year for her efforts. The junior only has one game of more than one goal scored and it was versus Fort Lewis when she scored two goals. Sierra Anderson, ASU's No. 3 all-time goal scorer, has netted eight goals this season and has 32 in her career. She is three goals away from passing Brandie DeBacker for second all-time. Anderson has taken 66 shots and has added five assists on the year.
Demi Tsambasis has made an immediate impact in her first season for ASU. The junior transfer has scored six goals with two assists. She was voted as the LSC Newcomer of the Year for her efforts. Tiffany Dang is fourth on the team with four goals while Selena Alvarez and Payton Shelmon each have two goals. Kathleen Keoughan, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lauren Perry, Molly Warren and Loni Byers have each put in one goal on the year. Warren's goal was the game-winner against Texas Woman's that clinched the LSC Championship.
"We have made a couple of slight changes with what we are going to do," McCorkle said. "I don't even know if people will notice what we have changed but we have tried to put a couple of wrinkles in there to create some better opportunities for our players and concentrate more on their strengths. I think it will give us the right kind of opportunities. I think we have had a lot of opportunities but they have just seemed to have come from further out or at a bad angle. That is why we are changing some things up so that we can get some better opportunities that we can convert."
Fort Lewis is 12-5-3 this season and is 2-1-2 in its last five matches. The Skyhawks are led by Alicia Sanchez who has scored six goals on the season. The Belles defeated Fort Lewis 2-0 in Grand Junction back on Sept. 10. Mendel scored both goals in the match. FLC has scored 23 goals on the season and allowed 13. Caitlyn Espinosa has 17 starts in net with a 10-4-3 record. She has five shutouts and has allowed 13 goals.
"Fort Lewis was a game that was early in the season and we were playing on turf for our third game," McCorkle said. "We had a great first 30 minutes, but after that Fort Lewis had a lot of the possession and that is something we need to improve on. I feel that as a group we have improved with our ability to possess and I think that we are good to go in that area."
St. Edward's is 13-5 this season and is 3-2 in its last five matches. The Hilltoppers have scored 35 goals this season while only giving up 11. A total of 15 different players have scored for SEU with Katie Donahue leading the way with five. Lorrie Santoy is 13-5 in goal and has 10 shutouts on the season.
"With St. Edward's we have video of one of their games this year and we have played them before with the same coach and the same style," McCorkle said. "There will be a lot of subs and he will play a deep bench."
The Fort Lewis and St. Edward's match will be played at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 at the ASU Soccer Field. The winner will advance to the Belles at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14. The winner of Sunday's match will advance to the third round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Dallas Baptist will host the other side of the bracket and will play the winner of Texas A&M-Commerce and Colorado Mines.
"The Dallas Baptist crowd was the best crowd I have ever seen at ASU for soccer," McCorkle said. "It was 600 plus and they were loud. I do promise that it will be entertaining and we are definitely going to attack and we are going to try to get a win and get goals. If we can get a great crowd, they really can help us out. I've seen what it can do first hand and that DBU crowd really set the standard for me for the rest of my time here at ASU with how loud they can be and how much that can lift the team. It can be a huge advantage for us to have people there yelling and screaming and cheering on the girls."
