TXST SOCCER
Texas State spooked their competition in a 3-0 shutout win over the Georgia Southern Eagles in the final regular season game of the season on Halloween Night.
The Bobcats and Head Coach Steve Holeman finish the regular season with a 10-4-5 record and the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament.
“It’s a great way to end the regular season and senior night,” Holeman said. “Everyone was playing hard for the seniors. It was a good opportunity for the team to play a good Georgia Southern team and get a positive result tonight.”
The Bobcat defense is now on a roll as of late by producing its third consecutive shutout along with goalkeeper Katelyn Chrisman producing five saves.
Chrisman, having earned Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week, was happy to win the award but also gave thanks to her teammates.
“It’s cool, but obviously I couldn’t do it without our defense,” Chrisman said. “Our whole team is doing really well so having shutouts is just an effect of that.”
A key to the defense’s success according to midfielder Chloe Jones is the Bobcats’ ability to communicate and trust one another.
“We all have a lot of communication and all trust each other,” Jones said. “Each of our defenders are really solid, and we can count on them. That’s been the secret.”
With the Bobcats entering the tournament as the No. 3 seed with a chance at winning the tournament, the defense is peaking at the right time.
“We were a little unfortunate early on, but now it’s all coming together,” Holeman said. “It’s clicking at a really good time as we enter the conference tournament.”
In the first half against Georgia Southern, the Bobcats took seven shots against the Eagles but none could find the back of the net.
After some minor adjustments, the Bobcats were able to get the ball rolling on the Eagles.
“We could have been a little sharper and cleaner in the final third of the first half,” Holeman said. “We took care of some things. It was nice to get that first goal, which led to the next couple [of goals].”
Junior midfielder Lily Erb scored the first goal of the game in the 47th minute when Jones made the crossing pass across the field. After a few bounces, Erb connected with the ball towards the right upper corner past the goalkeeper for Texas State to go up 1-0.
“I’ve been trying to get my first goal this season,” Erb said. “I just happen to be at the right place at the right time.”
Junior forward Mady Soumare added the second goal of the night following another crossing pass from teammate Chloe Jones. With the ball in the air, Soumare jumped up to connect with the header that pushed the ball in the back of the net.
Soumare added her second goal of the night in the 63rd minute by beating two defenders before delivering the shot past the keeper once more to put Texas State up 3-0.
Georgia Southern was unable to answer back as the Bobcats celebrated the win on senior night.
Texas State opens the Sun Belt Conference Tournament against the App State Mountaineers. The Bobcats previously defeated App State 1-0 last Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. Monday Nov. 4 from the Foley Sports Complex in Alabama.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
