Box Score
HOUSTON – HBU battled a tough UTEP team hard, but in the end, the visiting Miners left Houston with a 1-0 victory Friday evening at Sorrels Field.
The first half was dominated by the Miners, but UTEP had only the one goal to show for it. UTEP outshot the Huskies 11-1 in the half, 4-0 in shots on goal, and 5-0 in corner kicks. HBU starting goalkeeper, and reigning Southland Conference co-Goalkeeper of the Week
Stephanie Castellon made one of the saves of the night, as she robbed Jade Babcock midway in the opening half, as Castellon made a diving stop to keep the match scoreless.
The Huskies almost scored the first goal of the match, as
Ally Murphy fed a great ball to
Natalie Hager up the left side, but her shot just narrowly went above the cross bar.
UTEP's lone goal came in the 36th minute, with Angela Cutaia connecting with Gina Soto. Driving up the right side of the field, Cutaia fed Soto with a centering, leading pass, as Soto split the defense and scored past a sprawling Castellon to give the Miners a 1-0 lead.
The halftime speech by the HBU coaching staff lit a fire in the Husky bellies, as HBU came out of the gates with gusto. Not having to do much in the previous 45 minutes, UTEP goalkeeper Sarah Dilling suddenly made two saves in the first 14 minutes, the first coming in the first five minutes.
With the momentum clearly with the Huskies, Dilling miscued and sent the ball directly to a Husky in the 70th minute. With a clear chance of scoring into an empty net and tying the match, the Huskies were fouled from behind, resulting in a red card. The foul came just outside the box, but no harm done, as the ensuing shot resulted in a block by the wall and the kick was cleared away.
In the final few minutes, UTEP played keep away and played the ball in the corners to keep the Huskies from tying the match.
HBU was held to just four shot attempts and two shots on goal. Hager led the Huskies with two shots, while she and
Allison Abendschein each had a shot on goal. Castellon dropped to 1-3-0 as she made five saves.
Babcock and Soto each led the Miners with two shots on goal. Dilling improved to 4-2-0 as she made two saves.
HBU (1-5-0) will host Houston Sunday at 7 pm.
