PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team is set to close out its four match road stand this weekend as the Hounds will travel to San Angelo, Texas on Friday to take on Angelo State at 6 p.m. before heading to Odessa, Texas on Sunday to face UT-Permian Basin in a 12 p.m. match.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hounds (4-3-2, 2-1-1 Lone Star Conference) split a pair of matches last week. Eastern opened the week with a tough 3-1 loss at LSC leader No. 21 West Texas A&M before bouncing back with a 2-1 victory at Midwestern State.
In their match against the Lady Buffs, the Hounds were competitive as both teams managed to place nine shots on goal in the match, but WTAMU was able to capitalize on a few Greyhounds mistakes to pull away. In the 88th minute of the match, sophomore defender Keyara Zuniga scored her first goal of the season on a header off a beautiful corner kick by junior midfielder Samantha Fabela.
Against Midwestern State, the Hounds and Mustangs were locked in a scoreless battle in the first half, but the second half saw a significant amount of scoring. The Mustangs drew first blood in the 61st minute on a shot by Madison Williams from 25-yards out to take a one-goal lead. However, Eastern got its equalizer at the 68:38 mark as sophomore midfielder Kierra Diaz’s shot slipped past the goalkeeper on a deflection, tying the match up at 1-all. Moments later, junior defender Charlotte Collins-Blaize scored the game-winner from eight yards out off a Diaz assist in the 74thminute.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Two of the top three teams will face off on Friday as Angelo State currently holds an overall record of 5-4-1 and the second-best record in the LSC at 3-1. Last week, the Rams split a pair of matches, dropping a 2-0 decision at Texas Woman’s on Sept. 28 before bouncing back with a 2-1 victory at Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday.
The Rams feature a pair of forwards who pose a threat on the offensive attack. Junior forward Trenadey Scott leads the team with seven goals and 15 points, ranking second in the LSC in both categories while senior forward Cassandra Moosburger ranks third with five goals and fourth in total points with 12 in the LSC.
Despite being a potent offense, Commerce has been prone to concede goals this season as the Rams rank second to last in the LSC in goals against average per game at 1.825.

HISTORY WITH THE RAMS
Angelo State leads the all-time series against Eastern with an 18-3-1 overall mark as the Hounds in-particular will be looking to snap a nine match losing streak to the Rams.
Last season, the Hounds faced the Rams three times. During the regular season, ASU defeated ENMU 3-0 in San Angelo on Oct. 1, 2017 and followed it up with a 1-0 win at Greyhound Stadium on Oct. 14, 2017. The two teams faced off against each other one more time in the second round of the LSC Tournament, but the Hounds dropped another 1-0 decision to ASU to end the 2017 season.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
UT-Permian Basin currently holds the last spot in the LSC standings with a 0-4 record in conference play and a 1-8 overall mark. In last week’s matches, the Falcons fell 2-0 at Texas A&M-Commerce before dropping a 2-1 decision at Texas Woman’s.
As a team, the Falcons have struggled on both the offensive and defensive ends as they rank dead last in the LSC with five goals scored as well as dead last in goals against with 20.
Freshman forward Lea Walenta leads the UTPB attack with a pair of goals and four points.

HISTORY WITH THE FALCONS
The Hounds lead the all-time series with a 7-4 mark against the Falcons. Last season, the Hounds and Falcons split the season series as UTPB won the first game of the series in Odessa 1-0, getting a goal in the 95th minute of overtime on Sept. 29, 2017. However, the Hounds answered with a 1-0 win of their own in the rematch at Greyhound Stadium on Oct. 15, 2017.

BALANCING ACT
With Collins-Blaize and Keyara Zuniga scoring their first goals of the season last week, the Hounds currently lead the LSC with nine different players scoring goals and no player on the roster scoring more than two goals. Diaz, Kaitlyn Caro, and Bailey Bosley lead the overall scoring effort with two goals apiece.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
Eastern has predicated their success thus far on excellent defensive play. The Greyhounds are second in the LSC in both shots allowed (103) and shots on-goal allowed (50), while ranking third in the conference in goals allowed (10).