Box Score Sam Houston fell just short of a comeback win over Abilene Christian as the Wildcats held on for a 3-2 victory over the Bearkats Friday night in the Southland opener for both teams.
The Kats will be back in action, in search of their first league win, against Incarnate Word Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pritchett Field.
“I thought we were just a little bit inconsistent today,” head coach Tom Brown said. “We were able to get a goal early and I thought we were in pretty good shape. In the middle of the game we kind of got off the game plan and didn't compete as hard as we would have liked. Late in the match we started to have that fire again and scored another goal but we came up just short.”
Sam Houston was trailing 3-1 in the 83rd minute when junior midfielder Shelby McDaniel pulled off a moment of individual brilliance and scored a long-range goal to set up an exciting finish.
The Kats just couldn't find the back of the net in the closing minutes. The best opportunity came on a free-kick served in by forward Ashley Alonzo. Defender Caitlyn Schwartz got her head on the ball but put it just wide.
McDaniel opened the scoring for the Bearkats in the 17th minute after she headed in a great cross from right back Maddie Gangi.
“I thought we scored some good goals. We've been working on trying to get down the flanks and I thought Gangi did a good job of getting a good strong service in. The second goal by Shelby McDaniel livened up the team and got them back into it,” said Brown.
ACU levelled the match before halftime when Tiffany Ysassi scored from around the top of the box.
The Wildcats took the lead just after halftime when Chloe Fifer got on the end of a cross from Natalie Throneberry. Baylee Mtichell scored the game-winner in the 76th minute.
Sam Houston had more chances in the game, outshooting ACU 15-11 and had more total corner kicks in the match.
Magen Ross made her second start of the season in goal and made one save.
For the second consecutive season, the Bearkats have started 0-1 in league play with a loss to Abilene Christian. Despite the opening loss, the Kats ended up making the conference tournament and winning their opening round game.
