PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team will look to captures its first Lone Star Conference victory when it takes the field against UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Commerce this weekend.

The Hounds will face LSC newcomer UT Tyler Thursday at 7 p.m. and wrap-up the weekend against Commerce Saturday at noon with both games taking place inside Greyhound Arena.

LAST WEEK

The Hounds were handed their first loss of the 2019 campaign and surrendered their first two goals in a 2-1 road loss to rival West Texas A&M.

Eastern was unable to rally despite scoring a late goal as they dropped its conference opener last Friday. The 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. Eastern managed a late offensive push as they totaled 12 of their 18 shots in the second half. In the 89th minute junior defender Victoria Nunez took a corner kick and found a wide-open Zuniga who headed the ball into the left side of the net. Junior goalkeeper Whitney Dockweiler kept her squad in the game as she made one of her season-high ten saves in the 76:46 minute to keep the Lady Buffs lead at 1-0. The Hounds defense misplayed a ball as it squirted away from the ENMU defenders and landed at the feet of a WT forward before Dockweiler was able to punch the shot away, winning the one-on-one matchup. Midfielder Desiree Morgas tallied a game-high seven shots with legitimate scoring chances late in the game. The El Paso, Texas native sent a rocket from 35-yards out that the Buffs keeper barely got a hand to as it bounced off the cross bar. The redshirt-sophomore sent another shot from deep in the 87th minute that led to a well-deserved corner kick but, the Hounds were unable to turn the opportunity into points.

Scouting the Patriots

The Patriots received mixed results in their first week in the recently expanded Lone Star Conference. UT Tyler won its conference opener with a 3-0 rout over UT Permian Basin before being shutout 3-0 by Lubbock Christian.

After competing at the NCAA Division III level since its inception, UTT has experienced a smooth transition in Division II and have shown they can compete in the LSC as they rank third in shots on goal per game (7.67) and sixth in points per game (4.33) throughout the conference.

Head Coach Stefani Webb enters her 15th year and has compiled a 180-63-18 overall record. Webb led the Patriots to back-to-back NCAA DIII Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015 and has never finished a season with a losing record or less than ten wins.

The Patriots return a strong center line highlighted by 2018 All-American Southwest Conference Second Team selection Mariah Harmon and All-ASC Honorable Mention Kayce West. The pair leads the squad in points while Harmon has tallied four points on two goals and West has totaled three points with one goal and an assist.

2018 All-ASC Second Team selection Landri Edwards anchors the Patriots defense as she has played all 545 minutes this season.

Between the pipes UT Tyler fields Sophomore goalkeeper Camri Cecil who has recorded 33 saves on 87 shots faced with a 1.49 goals against average. Cecil has recorded three shutouts in 2019 and UTT is undefeated when she does not allow a goal.

Scouting the Lions

The Lions began last week with a tough 3-1 loss at the feet of Lubbock Christian before rebounding with a dominant 6-1 win over UT Permian Basin.

Commerce fields one of the most efficient offenses in the conference as they hold the fourth highest scoring margin in the Lone Star at 1.28 while scoring 15 goals and allowing six. The Lions 114 total shots and 41 points ranks third and fourth respectively amongst LSC competitors.

At the helm of the TAMUC women’s soccer program is Head Coach Neil Piper who is the longest tenured coach in program history, as he enters his 22nd season. Piper is a two-time LSC Coach of the Year and has led the Lions to conference titles in six different seasons with the most recent a regular season crown in 2016. Under Piper’s leadership 25 Commerce players have been named All-Region with six garnering All-American honors. With 251 career victories Piper is ranked in the top 20 of active Division II head coaches for total wins.

Junior forward Leslie Campuzano leads the Lions offensively as she has totaled a conference-high 29 shots and five assists. Campuzano has also scored three goals in 2019 and her 11 points rank fourth in the LSC.

Despite playing defender, sophomore Amber Crews has established herself has one of the most potent goal scorers in the league. Crews has scored four goals which is the fifth-highest mark in the conference on only nine total shots.

Freshman goalkeeper Jen Peters has had a successful start to her collegiate career and has proven that she is one of the best players at her position in the Lone Star. Her 39 saves are the second-highest total and her .823 goals against average ranks the fourth-lowest.

2019 STORY LINES

The Hounds field one of the best defenses in the country and are one of only ten teams in Division II soccer to allow two or less goals. The Green and Silver rank fourth in save percentage (.929), seventh in shutout percentage (.800) and tenth in goals against average (.383) in the country.

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 five points on two goals and one assist. The redshirt-sophomore leads the conference with five shots per game and has totaled 25 on the year, the fourth-highest mark in the league.

Dockweiler leads the conference with a .383 goals against average, .929 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 ninth and 11th 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 470 minutes in 2019 and is 913 shy of catching Perez.

Schedule Outlook

The Greyhounds will pack their bags next week as they prepare for a pair of difficult road contests, first against nationally ranked No. 18 DBU and finishing the trip against the fourth ranked squad in the South Central Region, Texas Woman’s. Eastern hasn’t played DBU since 2006 when the Patriots battled back from a 2-0 deficit, earning a 3-2 victory. The Hounds will look to revenge a 3-0 shutout loss at the feet of Texas Woman’s after falling to the Pioneer’s the last time the two teams met.

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 at Home

ENMU is 2-0 in 2019 and 6-3-2 during Head Coach Josh Smith’s tenure when taking the field inside Greyhound Arena.

The Hounds have yet to surrender a goal this year at home after posting back-to-back shutout victories over Adams State and Fort Lewis. In their home opener the Hounds posted a dominant 3-0 win over the Grizzlies of Adams State. Despite a sluggish start, the Hounds outclassed their competition in every facet of the game, controlling the pace of play and finishing the match with 20 shots and a .500 shot on goal percentage. Eastern’s defense swarmed to the ball all game long, harassing the Grizzlies defense and only allowing six total shots. The Green and Silver followed that performance with a well-deserved 1-0 win over Fort Lewis. Freshman Kinsie
Mitchell sent a terrific through ball deep from Eastern’s defensive zone as Morgas bolted past the Fort Lewis defenders and buried the ball into the net.

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 8-0-0 when scoring more than two goals in a game the past two seasons.