SAN ANTONIO, Texas – HCU women's soccer pushed its unbeaten streak to 14 matches with a 1-0 win over UIW at Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium to close out the regular season on Thursday and secure a second-place finish in the Southland Conference standings at the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SLC Tournament.
The Huskies (9-3-7, 5-0-5 SLC) have still not lost a match since Aug. 30. They have posted a record of 8-0-6 during that time.
On Thursday evening, UIW (8-8-3, 5-4-1 SLC) was on the offensive early with Tyler Coker and Atiana Lara putting shots on target in the first 11 minutes. Near the 15-minute mark, HCU began to assert control as Paisley Barela, Rylan Breath, Isabella Dillow and Gisele Kehres all testing keeper Hannah Alexander in a 10-minute stretch. In the 25th minute, Barela put one into the goal for a 1-0 HCU lead. The Huskies maintained that 1-0 lead at the half with Emmy McKeon registering three saves in the first half.
In the second half, UIW out-shot the Huskies by an 8-2 margin with three more shots on goal but McKeon was up to the task to maintain the clean sheet. The HCU keeper finished with six saves, Her six stops mark her second-highest total in a conference match this season.
Barela's goal was her seventh of the season and gives her the team lead. She's tied for the most points on the team, with 17. In SLC play, Barela's four goals are tied for fourth in the league.
The Huskies, as the No. 2 seed, will take on the seventh-seeded East Texas A&M Lions on their home turf at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Commerce, Texas.
