A brief momentum boost after a goal had the UTPB women’s soccer team playing with confidence in the first half against Midwestern State Wednesday.
It wasn’t enough, as UTPB fell 5-1 in Lone Star Conference play at Falcon Field.
UTPB head coach Lynsey Winkler said little things like having to make substitutions too early had an impact on the match.
“They had to come up and play a little bit tougher, I think we got tired early on which is not what we wanted,” Winkler said. “It’s the little things that we couldn’t quite figure out today.”
Midwestern State quickly took advantage of the speed of its wingers to take a 1-0 lead in the second minute of the match.
A Cassidy Savoy cross from the right wing was finished by Marissa Resendez in the bottom right corner of the goal.
The Mustangs got their second score about 12 minutes later when Kelly Cannistra pushed in a loose ball that was initially blocked on a corner kick.
The confidence boost for UTPB came a few seconds later when Yareli Barrera scored a curling free kick that went past the Midwestern State keeper’s right side.
It helped the Falcons (1-11 overall, 0-7 conference) shake off some of the issues that plagued them early on.
“Rhythm is everything in this game and momentum,” Winkler said. “We came out a little bit flatter than we would like. It felt good to get a goal in conference, that was our first conference goal so that gave us a little bit of a boost.”
Savoy would increase the Mustangs (6-2-3, 3-0-3) lead with a header before the halftime break.
Resendez and Savoy scored their second goals of the match in the second half to hand the Falcons their seventh straight loss.
Midwestern State coach Ryan Spence said his team worked all week to improve its speed down the wings to get one-on-one matchups.
Three of his team’s goals were results from plays that started on the outside.
“That’s where we need to improve and that’s where we have potential to be better at,” Spence said. “We just need to kind of unleash it a little bit more.”
UTPB continues conference play on the road against St. Edward’s at 4 p.m. Saturday in Austin.
>>Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
