Titus, Schwartz earn Southland honors
8/25/2015 3:30:00 PM | Soccer
After defeating Louisiana-Lafayette and UTSA in a pair of road matches to start the season, the awards for Sam Houston State soccer began piling on Tuesday as senior Mariah Titus was named Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week and sophomore Caitlin Schwartz earned the league's defensive player of the week.
Titus played a key role in each Bearkat scoring play against UTSA, securing an assist in the 41st minute on a ball that Allie Johnson lobbed over the Roadrunners' defense to knot the match at one. Six minutes into overtime, the Bedford product broke the stalemate, lifting a ball over the keeper's head for her fifth career match-winning goal.
“I thought Titus did a great job coming in off the bench sparking us and getting us going,” eighth-year head coach Tom Brown said. “I thought she played a good game and thought it was well deserved that she was able to get the goal to win it for us.”
Meanwhile, defensively, Schwartz helped permit just one goal in 187 minutes of action against foes from the Sun Belt and Conference USA. Offensively, the San Antonio product made the most of her opportunities, scoring the Kats first goal of the season and ultimately the eventual winner against Louisiana-Lafayette.
“Caitlin had a good weekend overall,” Brown said. “Obviously, she got an important goal for us coming off the second phase from a corner kick. She's done very well and has grown so much as a player in the back. I think she's really impacting us on the field.”
For the first time in program history, Sam Houston is 2-0 to start the season, a reversal of fortunes from last year when the Kats dropped its opening games against an identical schedule.
“Going on the road and winning a couple tough games where we didn't play our best was good,” Brown said. “I think these were games we would have dropped in the past playing the way we did. We've got a lot of work that still needs to be done but it is good getting two wins knowing what a tremendous upside this team has as we prepare for conference play.”
Friday's opening victory was also the 200th career win for Brown. The pair of wins pushes the Kats record to 10-2-1 over the squad's last 13 matches dating to Sept. 21 of last season.
The Bearkats resume play Friday against No. 10 Florida Atlantic from Texas A&M's Ellis Field. The match is scheduled for 4 p.m. For the latest on Sam Houston soccer, follow @SHSUSoccer on Twitter and visit GoBearkats.com.
