Victoria Meza nailed the game winning goal for Texas State soccer ( 5-2-3, 2-0-1) in its Sun Belt Conference home opener 1-0 victory against the Troy Trojans (5-4-1, 0-2-1) on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Bobcat Soccer Complex.
The victory sets the Bobcats on a two-game winning streak in week three of conference play, where they now sit at No. 3 in the Sun Belt.
“I don’t think we played very well in the first half, but the good news was we turned it around, we came back, we played a really good second half,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “I think Troy had a good tactical approach to the game, they had a really good game plan [and] created lots of opportunities.”
Texas State and Troy battled closely through the first half; both squads did not hesitate to bring their physical game against each other, racking up 13 fouls within the first half of the match.
Texas State capitalized on playing through their flanks with key players Helen Alormenu and Katrin Agustsdottir piecing passes together, but with no prevail against a wall of Troy’s defense and goalkeeper Taylor Richards, who denied Texas State’s attempts with four big saves in the first half.
While the Trojans found their fair share of opportunities in front of goal, zero of their nine shots in the first half were completed on frame.
The Bobcats wasted little time breaking open the second half when Meza came out successful by catching Richards off guard and slamming a shot into the Trojans’ net for a Texas State lead in the 49th minute.
“What a great strike by Vic, kind of near approached and high, and it was gonna take something special to beat [Richards],” Holeman said. “A lot of the shots we hit, like, right to her, you know…she’s always going to make those saves, so we kind of had to test her, it’s a great goal by Vic to get the victory for us.”
Shortly after the goal, Escobar faced a one-on-one with Trojan attacker Jiselle Daniels, who opened up on the Bobcats’ goal but was deflected as Escobar displayed cat-like reflexes to punch her attempt away and protect the lead.
“Honestly, I kind of read her. I knew she was going to go to the back post, so I was like, all right, I just need to save this,” Escobar said. “I just went for it and I mean, that’s all you can really do.”
The game result marks back-to-back shutouts for Escobar and three total on the season.
“She’s answered the call when she’s been called upon. When we played George Southern, they had a golden opportunity in the last minute of the game. and she made the save to preserve the shutout,” Holeman said. “So she’s done everything we’ve asked for, she’s done a great job, especially in her first year as a freshman.”
Texas State focused on game management throughout the last minutes of the match, taking advantage of possession and set plays in the final third of the pitch, slowing play down at every chance possible to close the game out.
Texas State will return to its home field for its next SBC match up against the Georgia State Panthers (6-4-1, 2-1-0) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+
