By james art LUBBOCK, TX – For the first time in the 2024 season, the West Texas A&M women’s soccer team earned a tie after the Lady Buffs tied Lubbock Christian 1-1 in Lubbock on Wednesday night. With the tie, the Lady Buffs moved to 6-6-1 on the year with a 3-4-1 mark in Lone Star Conference play.
The two teams battled for possession in the opening minutes of the game, with neither team able to string passes up the pitch. After a WT takeaway in the defensive third, the Lady Buffs built the field with Molly Ferro leading the attack along the touchline. As Ferro entered the box from 18 yards out, the sophomore sent a centering pass to the center of the box, where a Lubbock Christian defender deflected the ball into the back of the net. After the goal in the ninth minute Reagan Heelan preserved the lead seven minutes later after the senior goalkeeper easily handled a rebound shot. The Lady Chaps started to get into the game by keeping possession and moving up the field. Despite controlling possession, the WT back line took over LCU’s attack to force contested passes and turnovers. With under 15 minutes on the clock, the Lady Chaps created an opportunity to tie the score on a one-on-one chance, but the offside flag went up to nullify the possession. LCU would eventually break through with 10 minutes to play in the half when a Lady Buff foul set up a free kick. On the restart Emma Best found Ella Spiller at the back post who headed the ball back across the face of goal to beat Heelan. Less than 10 seconds after the tying goal, WT stormed the field where Avery Putnam sent a shot that went over the crossbar and out of bounds. Just before halftime, the Lady Chaps almost took the lead when Heelan poked a shot off the underside of the crossbar. Luckily for the Lady Buffs, the ball fell away from the open goal to be cleared by a defender.
After halftime, LCU spent most of the opening minutes of the second half in its attacking third, keeping WT on its heels. In the 56sth minute Lady Buffs controlled midfield where a foul by the Lady Chaps led to a free kick. Stepping up to take the free kick Alexis Villarreal went straight for the goal, missing the go-ahead score by inches. A few minutes later, LCU pressured the WT defense once again when a Journey Curs shot forced Heelan to make a diving save. The Lady Buffs looked to take the lead with 17 minutes to play Madison Stokes made a drive into the box, but saw a Lady Chaps defender step up to block the attempt. The physical play of the second half continued in the following minutes of the game, with each team struggling to gain an advantage. With less than two minutes to play, LCU looked to take the lead and walk away with three points from the Lone Star Conference when Maya Quinones beat two defenders and drove into the 18-yard box. With no one around, Quiñones curled a shot towards the top corner of the goal but hit the corner post. The rebound came to Olivia Wider, who tried to beat Heelan, but sent her attempt wide of the mark. WT’s last-second chance sailed away as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Lady Buffs return to The Pitch on Saturday, October 26th for their annual Jachyllis “Jae” Hogeland ALS Recognition Game. The game against UT Tyler is set to begin at 11 a.m. in Canyon.