PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team will look to climb the Lone Star Conference standings as it takes on #13 DBU and Texas Woman’s this weekend.
ENMU begins its road trip against the LSC leading DBU Patriots Thursday at 4 p.m. before taking the pitch against Texas Woman’s Saturday at 11 a.m.
Last Week
The Hounds captured their first Lone Star Conference victory with a dramatic 2-1 come-from-behind win over UT Tyler before suffering their first loss inside Greyhound Stadium in a 1-0 overtime defeat to Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Hounds showed their resilience, rallying late and overcoming an own goal surrendered at the 74:36 mark against UTT. Junior Caitlyn Schmidt tied the game in the 82nd minute before redshirt-sophomore Desiree Morgas netted the game-winner with little over a minute left in the game. The game’s first score came off a UT Tyler free kick taken from 30 yards out. The ball was centered into the box and headed into an ENMU defender before getting redirected into the back of the net. The Hounds were able to gather themselves and launch an offensive onslaught of their own, negating the defensive miscue. Schmidt, the 5-2 midfielder, gained possession deep in the Patriots zone before colliding with the center back as the ball ricocheted past the backline, splitting the defenders. Schmidt found herself one-on-one with the keeper and sent a perfectly placed shot into the left side of the net to tie the game at 1-1. Morgas scored her second game-winner of the year after the Hounds were awarded a free kick a few feet outside of the box. The El Paso, Texas native took the set piece and sent a laser into the top left corner of the net, which blurred by the Patriots keeper.
Eastern New Mexico was unable to capitalize on multiple quality scoring chances against TAMUC, putting six shots on target throughout the contest. The Hounds best chance came in the final few seconds of regular time as a corner kick from Eastern bounced around in front of the Lion goal before time eventually expired. The Greyhounds out-shot Texas A&M-Commerce by a final total of 14-to-6, including eight shots in the second half compared to just one shot from the Lions. Sophomore Desiree Morgas provided a quality scoring chance for the Greyhounds in the 30th minute as she broke away in the box thanks to a nice feed from freshman Josefina Villa, but couldn’t finish the one-on-one chance with the keeper. Texas A&M-Commerce was able to put away the golden goal just four minutes into the overtime period.
Scouting the Patriots
The Patriots are the only undefeated team remaining in the Lone Star Conference after posting back-to-back shutout victories over UT Permian Basin and Lubbock Christian.
DBU continues to combine potent offense with a stout defense as it has outscored its opponents 23-8 with a scoring margin of 1.88
Head Coach Michelle Lenard enters her 11th year at the helm of the DBU women’s soccer team, amassing an impressive 147-67-15 overall record. Lennard has guided the Patriots the NCAA postseason six times, including a South Central Regional crown and trip to the Elite Eight in 2015.
The Patriots field two of the most fearsome strikers in the conference in Delaney Schmidt and Jenna Patterson, who have registered four goals apiece, tied for the sixth-highest mark in the Lone Star.
In the midfield, DBU returns 2018 All-South Central Region Second Team selection Abigail Olmos. The junior has netted two game-winners and has recorded 15 shots.
The Patriots backline is anchored by 2018 All-Region Second Team honoree Maggie Scales as well as junior defender Summerlyn Heller. Scales has only appeared in six games in 2019 while Heller leads the squad in minutes played by a field player with 695. Heller has also tallied a goal and an assist.
In net the Patriots will look to Senior goalkeeper Hope Koym who has made all eight starts for DBU. Hoym has recorded 28 saves on 72 shots with a .995 goals against average in addition to her .778 save percentage.
Scouting the Pioneers
The Pioneers enter the week after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Lubbock Christian before rebounding with a dominant 4-0 shutout victory over UT Permian Basin.
Texas Woman’s fields one of the most efficient offenses in the conference as they rank fourth with a 1.55 scoring margin while outscoring its opponents 20-6. The Pioneers do a great job of sharing the ball as their 16 assists are tied for the third-most in the league.
Head Coach Babak Abouzar is only the second in Pioneer soccer program history after taking over in 2013. In his seven-year stint he has acquired an 58-51-14 overall record. In. 2018, he guided his squad to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the second time in four year and coached three players to All-Region honors.
One of those honorees is the team’s leading goal scorer, D2CCA Second Team selection Haley Ward. The junior forward leads all LSC competitors with seven goals, netting three game-winners.
In total, TWU has nine players that have recorded at least one goal.
The Pioneers backline is anchored by sophomore defender Maddy Harper who was a two-time LSC Defensive Player of the Week last season. Harper has logged 707 minutes in 2019 and also has an assist to her name.
Senior Daniela Marin has taken over as the full-time goalkeeper for the Pioneers and has started all nine games. The Dallas, Texas native has compiled 42 saves on 97 saves while her .875 save percentage and .68 goals against average rank third and fourth respectively throughout the Lone Star.
2019 Story Lines
The Hounds field one of the best defenses in the country and have only surrendered a LSC-low four goals. The Green and Silver rank fifth in save percentage (.921), 13th in shutout percentage (.714) and 22nd in goals against average (.570) in all of NCAA Division II women’s soccer
Eastern is a part of a new-look LSC that has doubled in size from a year ago, expanding from seven teams to 14 teams.
Fresh Faces
The Hounds have seen many new faces contribute so far this season highlighted by team points leader Desiree Morgas and starting goalkeeper Whitney Dockweiler.
Morgas has scored seven points on three goals and one assist. The redshirt-sophomore leads the conference with 4.71 shots per game and has totaled 33 on the year, the fourth-highest mark in the league. Her two game-winning goals are tied for the third most in the LSC.
Dockweiler leads the conference with a .550 goals against average, .895 save percentage and four shutouts. Not only is she one of the best keepers in the LSC her save percentage and goals against average rank 34th and 19th respectively in the entire nation. The Bellevue, Neb. native is tied for the fifth-most shutouts in the ENMU all-time single-season record book.
In total, 13 ENMU newcomers have logged minutes in 2019 including eight true freshman and five transfers.
Good Company
Junior defender Hayden Zuniga has been a crucial piece to the 2017 and 2018 squads and has logged 3,441 minutes in her first two seasons. Averaging more than 1,700 minutes a season, the Sahuarita, Ariz. native is on pace to reach the all-time record books in just her third year. Victoria Perez sits at No. 10 on the list and played 4,824 minutes from 2011-14. Zuniga has already logged a team-high 655 minutes in 2019 and is 718 shy of catching Perez.
Schedule Outlook
Eastern will wrap up its regular season home slate with a Halloween match against Oklahoma Christian before playing Midwestern State for Senior Day on Nov. 2. The Hounds will close out the regular season on the road with matches at UT Permian Basin on Nov. 7 and Lubbock Christian on Nov. 9.
Hounds on the Road
ENMU has experienced mixed results on the road in 2019 compiling a 1-1-1 record.
The Hounds captured their first win of the year with a 1-0 shutout victory over East Central. Schmidt sent a lead pass to play Diaz into the attacking zone before the forward scanned the goal and hit a stellar left footed shit over the keeper’s head. Eastern battled Southern Nazarene to a 0-0 draw in its second road contest and recorded its fourth consecutive shutout. In their LSC opener the Green and Silver rallied late but eventually fell to West Texas A&M 2-1. The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 2-0 lead following goals in the 10th and 82nd minute before junior defender Hayden Zuniga trimmed the deficit to one with a header at the 89:22 mark. The Hounds out-shot WT 18-16 but struggled to turn those shots into scoring chances as they only managed to put six on goal.
Score First, Ask Questions Last
In his first two years at the helm of the Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team, Josh Smith has posted an impressive 11-0-0 record when scoring the match’s first goal. The Hounds are also 9-0-0 when scoring more than two goals in a game the past two
