ABILENE – The Abilene Christian women's soccer team begins its farewell tour to the Lone Star Conference this weekend with matches Friday and Sunday vs. Incarnate Word and Angelo State. Kickoffs are scheduled for 7:30 and 1 p.m.
The Wildcats are moving into NCAA D-I athletics and the Southland Conference at the start of the next season (along with Incarnate Word and New Orleans), but in doing so leave behind a league they've experienced tremendous success against.
ACU soccer came together as a program in 2007 and went 3-6-1 against the LSC in its inaugural year, but have since won two conference championships (2010, 2011) while qualifying for four tournament appearances from 2008 to 2011. The Wildcats overall record against the conference currently stands at 35-15-5 (.662), but that winning percentage may take a hit this season as opponents look to have the final word in their all-times series vs.
Casey Wilson's crew.
“Everyone we play in the LSC is going to be tough and all the matches are going to be physical, but we need to continue making the right decisions and go about our business in a better way,” said the sixth-year head coach. “But what it really comes down to with all these games is whoever wants it more is going to win.”
The Cardinals are off to a 0-2 start this year, and last season finished at 5-7-5 overall and were 3-7-4 within the conference. They also were responsible for ACU's lone regular-season blemish after batting the Wildcats to a 1-1 tie. After that, however, ACU won its next 14 matches and captured the regular-season title over Midwestern State by four matches.
Friday night's match at UIW will serve as its home opener. The Cardinals opened their year on the road last weekend in Austin where they lost to regional foes Regis (1-2) and Metropolitan State (2-3) of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Angelo State, meanwhile, is 2-2 to start 2012. The Rambelles won their first two matches against UT-Permian Basin and New Mexico Highlands, but then fell 2-0 at Colorado Mesa and 3-0 to Fort Lewis College.
The Wildcats exchanged wins and losses for the second straight weekend and begin their upcoming road trip at 2-2 after following a 2-0 loss to Nebraska-Kearney with a 2-0 win at Missouri Southern.
Krysta Grimm scored both goals in ACU's first win over the Lions in three meetings.
Even though the final scores may indicate otherwise to some, Wilson said it was hard to gauge if his team played any better Sunday than they did Friday because the field conditions at both locations were less than ideal. ACU played its first match on a matted down field turf following a three-hour rain delay, and then was back on the grass by Sunday.
“We had plenty of opportunities to score in that first game, but playing on a sloppy, wet, narrow field kind of served as a great equalizer,” he said. “That game was up for grabs from the very start and largely depended on whether or not we'd get a break here or there.
“Sunday we moved to playing on long grass, and it was soft, but I thought we adapted better to that playing surface,” he added. “We also moved some people around to different positions, having Whitley (Lindholm) on defense and Stephanie (Heron) at forward, and managed to get two goals – one off a set piece.”
ACU scored its first goal in the sixth minute after a 25-yard free kick by
Julie Coppedge struck the crossbar and bounced back to Grimm with the defense out of position. Grimm struck again in the 78th minute with a bullet shot over the hands of goalkeeper Beth Hammons.
Ashley Craig assisted Grimm on the goal.
Senior Wildcat goalkeeper
Arielle Moncure had six saves in recording her second shutout of the year, and Wilson said she did a great job of keeping her composure late in the match when the Lions were able to get off several shots in the final 20 minutes.
