Staring down the first place team in the Heartland Conference and with their hopes for a conference championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs, the Incarnate Word women’s soccer team rose up to the challenge and defended their home field with a 1-0 victory over St. Edward’s on Friday night.
The game not only pitted the first and second place teams in the Heartland head-to-head, but it also featured the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams SEU and UIW, respectively) in the NCAA Division II South Central Region.
The first half was a back and forth affair with both schools getting some chances throughout. However, the Cardinals struck early in the 16th minute when leading scorer Sarah Hernandez sent a ball at the goal from 25 yards out when she noticed the Hilltoppers’ goalkeeper cheating off her line. The ball knuckled and snuck under the crossbar to give UIW the 1-0 lead.
The second half saw St. Edward’s pressing the attack and keeping the ball in UIW’s end of the field for the majority. SEU out-shot the Cardinals 8-4 in the final 45 minutes and had a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks – but their best chances came late in the game.
With nearly every player on field in the UIW box, Incarnate Word goalkeeper Tori Puentes made plays on several crossing passes that helped deny scoring chances – but two shots by St. Edward’s were stopped by defenders reacting quickly near the goal line.
The first was in the 86th minute when Maggie Schrader stepped in front of a shot and deflected it out of bounds. The second came with roughly a minute and a half to play in the game when Keri Dawson stuck her leg out in front of a shot heading right for an opening.
When the final horn sounded, UIW had defeated St. Edward’s and not only taken over first place in the Heartland Conference, but also put themselves in the driver’s seat with just two games left to play in the season.
The Cardinals are now 13-2-3 overall and 8-1-1 in the conference with a home game coming up against St. Mary’s University on Sunday (7 p.m.) and a road game to end the season at Texas A&M International University next Friday. If UIW wins out – then no matter what the Hilltoppers do the Cardinals should win the conference title and claim the automatic bid into the playoffs.
Sunday’s game against the Rattlers is Senior Day.