Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 5 with additional information.
Two weeks after a win over the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas State soccer (2-7-1 overall, 2-3-0 Sun Belt) fell short of another victory as they lost 1-0 to the Ragin’ Cajuns (5-3-0 overall, 2-2-0 Sun Belt) in Lafayette Oct. 4.
The first half ended scoreless for both teams despite the Ragin’ Cajuns’ aggressive 10-shot half, seven of which came before the Bobcats’ first attempt. Senior midfielder Renny Moore made Texas State’s first shot on goal with a free kick in the 27th minute of play. The shot was aimed at the top left of the goal but saved by ULL freshman goalkeeper Lauryn Starwood.
Both the Bobcats and the Cajuns were scoreless well into the second half despite Lafayette’s 10 attempts and Texas State’s three corner kicks. At 57 minutes, the Cajuns’ freshman forward Hailey Hoffmann, who finished with three shots on goal, headed in a corner kick to take the 1-0 lead.
Texas State freshman goalkeeper Beth Agee faced four more shot attempts and another corner kick but managed to keep the team at a single-goal deficit. Junior midfielder/forward Ally Kewish took the last shot on target for the Bobcats in the 83rd minute of play but was unable to tie the match as the ‘Cats lost 1-0.
Agee, who has notched 55 total saves for the season, made another six saves in the match to keep the game close. The ‘Cats fell short offensively, however, with nine shots to the Cajuns’ 17 and three shots on goal to ULL’s eight.
Head Coach Kat Conner said that she is impressed by Agee’s first-year ability but that she hopes Agee can develop as a communicator.
“I’ve been very happy with what she is doing,” Conner said. “She’s still very humble and very much a freshman, so we want to see her speak louder and direct the defense, so that way, hopefully, she doesn’t even have to face that many shots.”
Senior midfielder/forward Mackenzie Smith paced the Bobcats with two shots.
The scoreless match comes after a low-scoring few weeks, with only two total goals in the past four matches. Conner said that they are working on shot selectiveness and taking the right opportunities to get them back on track offensively.
“I think the players have to be more selective in what they’re looking to shoot and they need to look for one more pass to get the next player in,” Conner said. “Then again, when we do have the shots, we’re not really pulling the trigger on them, so we’ve just got to do a better job of figuring out which selection of shots is better than the other.”
After four straight matches away from home, the Bobcats will head back to the Bobcat Soccer Complex for a matchup against Arkansas State (6-0-0 overall, 5-0-0 Sun Belt) over the weekend.
The ‘Cats are at a 1-0 deficit against the Red Wolves after an 0-2 loss in Jonesboro Sept. 27. Conner said that a tighter middle and better protection against Arkansas State senior forward Sarah Sodoma, who she compared to Bobcat alumni forward Kaylee Davis, could tie the series against the Red Wolves.
“When we were up there, we actually played pretty well, but we’ve got to protect our middle a little bit more,” Conner said. “They’ve got a quick player who can catch you when you’re trying to push numbers forward, which is kind of how she got the second goal on us. So we just really need to make sure we don’t give up anything silly.”
The Bobcats will head to Bobcat Soccer Complex to face Arkansas State at noon on Oct. 10.
