What was supposed to be a sunny match at Lewis-Chen turned into a night game for the St. Edward’s women’s soccer team due to weather conditions on Oct. 25. However, this did not stop the Hilltoppers from taking home the 2-1 win against Lubbock Christian University.
The Hilltoppers had an early offense with three shots attempted in the first 10 minutes of the match. SEU kept applying pressure against a strong defense set up by the Chaps, but they broke through when a powerful corner shot by midfielder Marie Hannedouche put the score 1-0 in the 17th minute.
“Our plan was to come out fast in the first half,” coach Nick Cowell said. “When we play teams that have traveled eight hours from Lubbock and they’ve been sitting around the hotel all day, it’s tough to motivate yourself. We wanted to come out fired up and show that we can play at a high level.”
Not even eight minutes later, Hannedouche had a clear path to put it in the net again, setting the score at 2-0. The Chaps tried to put in a couple shots on goalkeeper Daria Schlumbohm, but failed to get past her and the Hilltopper defense. They kept the score locked at 2-0 by halftime.
“We knew we had to win today so we could possibly make it to the (conference) tournament,” Hannedouche said. “We were all so hype and fighting for each other. We got a lot of good opportunities in the game.”
A good attempt was made by the Chaps in the 50th minute, but was saved by Schlumbohm once again, keeping the lead. However, just two minutes later, another shot was made, earning the Chaps their first goal of the night. After a couple more shots and substitutions by the Chaps, the Hilltoppers maintained their defense and lead, leading them to earn their sixth win of the season.
“They changed their formation and it took a while for us to adjust to the things they were doing tactically,” Cowell said. “I think once we figured out what they were doing, we organized ourselves. We made a couple of substitutions and got organized. They had more of the ball and had more shots than misses but in the end, we deserved to win based on our first half performance.”
The Hilltoppers are now 5-5-2 in the Lone Star Conference. Their next game will be away against Texas Women’s University on Nov. 1.
“We have two more games and two more wins,” Hannedouche said. “We know we can do it. We know we can make it. We are such a good team, and I think we need to understand that and work on our strength.”
