SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State women's soccer team improved to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon as the Belles defeated Lubbock Christian 3-1 at the ASU Soccer Field.
The Belles have opened the season with wins against both St. Edward's and Lubbock Christian who were selected to finish second and third in the Lone Star Conference respectively.
Neither team could really gain an advantage in the first half as both midfields battled for possession with few opportunities.
Avery McNeme rattled off two shots in the opening period, the first landing just left at the seven-minute mark before Lubbock Christian had a chance, striking the bottom right corner as Casey Crawford dove in front for a save for the Belles. McNeme shot another attempt in the 29th minute but LCU's keeper got a hand on the ball to push it right off the post.
After ended the first half tied at 0-0, Lubbock Christian struck first, collecting the ball in the box off of a block before Celia Duarte scored the opening goal of the match.
Less than a minute later, the match was tied again as Marissa Brezgiel sent a ball into the box, finding the foot of McNeme who hit a shot into the back of the net for her first goal of the season. Nearly 30 seconds after that, the Belles would take the lead as Cindy Rodriguez collected the ball 10-yards past the box, sending a ball just over the keeper's reach for the go-ahead score.
"In the second half we started to use our brains more," said head coach Travis McCorkle. "We weren't moving off the ball enough and weren't able to keep possession very well but once LCU scored we woke up."
After that, the Belles continued to pour on the pressure, collecting 13 total shots in the match with nine landing on goal. Neleh Coleman nearly scored, recording three shots with two ending in saves by LCU.
The Belles would add another goal in the 76th minute as Madison Stokes controlled the corner kick from Kiah Benham to give ASU a 3-1 advantage.
"Overall, I'm very pleased with the result and if we play like we played in the second half we can be a very scary team but we will see going forward," added McCorkle.
Angelo State will face off against Lubbock Christian again next week as they travel to Lubbock on Wednesday for the first conference game of the spring season.
