RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw Sunday against the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Lumberjacks in the season finale and a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
UTRGV (3-10-4, 1-6-2 WAC) was very defensive-minded to open the contest, and SFA (2-14-2, 1-6-2 WAC) matched that mentality. Neither team had much going offensively through the first third, and the Lumberjacks were the first to find a rhythm. SFA took the first shot of the half in the 19
th minute and quickly added another, but it stayed off the board.
The Vaqueros responded to the SFA push, and after junior defender
Abbie Bailey notched a steal in the midfield and raced into the offensive third, senior midfielder
Ana Recarte-Pacheco took UTRGV's first shot but it was blocked. That series sparked the Vaqueros and led to more consistent offensive pressure late in the first frame, including shots on goal by junior defender
Sydney Hammond and Bailey, but the match remained scoreless at halftime.
Freshman goalkeeper
Anais van Doesburg took over in goal to start the second half and finished with four saves. The frame was quiet initially, with the teams battling for possession, then the Lumberjacks went on a flurry and put two shots on goal in the 55
thand 56
th minute. Van Doesburg came up with clutch back-to-back saves, corralling a shot from the top of the box for her first save, knocking it down with her body, then going airborne to punch a long shot up over the net for her second.
Freshman midfielder
Linnea Eld put a shot on goal in the 66
th minute, but SFA goalkeeper
Lydia Sattler came up with the save. Freshman midfielder
Olivia Smith and junior midfielder
Molly Reynosa helped the Vaqueros to continue attacking through the later part of the second half.
Intensity continued to build as time ticked away and both teams relentlessly pursued the go-ahead goal. The Lumberjacks created several chances in the final 10 minutes as they used fresh legs to push the pace of the contest. Van Doesburg recorded her third save in the 81
st minute.
In the 86
th minute, SFA's speed allowed it to have numbers in the box, and after van Doesburg knocked down one shot, the rebound found its way to
Lily Hargrove, who sunk the first goal of the match.
Hammond found the equalizer with 41 seconds remaining on the clock. Recarte-Pacheco took a shot that was knocked down by the diving keeper, but the rebound wasn't controlled and Hammond got away from two defenders to kick it into the net and earn the draw.
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