Texas State ended its 2020 regular season on a high note.
The maroon and gold secured a 3-1 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday, the team's Senior Day, inside Bobcat Soccer Complex.
“I mean, it's obviously always our goal to win every game. But it's always extra special to win for the seniors,” senior midfielder Renny Moore said. “And this year, being a senior makes it that much more special.”
Texas State (4-8-1, 4-4 Sun Belt) got on the board less than six minutes into the match. Junior defender Gabie Jones sent a long ball up the field to senior midfielder Mackenzie Smith, who pushed it forward with a through ball into the box to senior forward Sydney Kammer.
“(Smith) sent another excellent ball right past the defensive line,” Kammer said. “And I just remember it going almost to the keeper and I had put my body on the line. And so I just slid out for it and took it right over her.”
But the Warhawks (0-8, 0-7) stayed aggressive, outshooting the Bobcats in the first half, 10-3. A goal by freshman forward Janet Stopka seven minutes before halftime tied the match back up at 1-1.
Still, head coach Kat Conner was pleased with her team’s performance through the first 45 minutes and encouraged them during the break to keep pushing.
“I thought the team came out ready, focused,” Conner said. "They understood the strategy that we were asking them to do and I thought they did an excellent job at executing it and got an early goal. ULM kind of reconnected there and found what they wanted to do and we had to kind of regroup ourselves going into halftime for a 1-1 game. But I was really impressed with how our players managed the clock, managed the game, managed the field and found some more goals.”
Ten minutes into the second period, senior midfielder Kayla Streber played the ball up to sophomore forward Kamaria Williams. Williams crossed the ball in from the left side of the box and found the head of Moore, who placed the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal for the go-ahead score.
Five minutes later, Texas State earned a corner kick. Moore sent in another cross, this time from the right side of the pitch, and found sophomore midfielder Karlee Torisk, who headed the ball into the back of the net for the first goal of her career to seal the 3-1 win.
“We stepped as a team together well and worked as a unit to create chances and chase down balls and finish them,” Moore said.
“It was an amazing feeling just to be with my team on the field and to complete our goal that we've been working for all season,” Kammer said.
The Bobcats finished the season with 12 conference points, ranking third in the Sun Belt West Division. They’ll be slated against Troy (1-8-1, 1-8-1), the No. 6 seed from the East Division, in the first round of the league tournament on Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Conner said she feels like Texas State is peaking at the right time.
“There's no doubt, the Sun Belt's a very good conference and in the sense that any team can beat anybody,” Conner said. “So I think we're gonna have to really look to see who we match up against and then, honestly, study them a little bit and find out their weaknesses and strengths. And then we're gonna have to prepare for that. But I think our players' focus is what's going to be our greatest asset. Because when they're focused as a team, they do great things.”
