By Wes Bloomquist  ||  wes.bloomquist@angelo.edu
PORTALES, N.M. – The longest unbeaten streak in Angelo State soccer history came to an end with a 0-2 Lone Star Conference loss to Eastern New Mexico on Sunday at the ENMU Soccer Field.
The No. 8-ranked Rambelles (10-1-1, 3-1-1 LSC), who remain in first place in the LSC standings with 10 points after the first round of conference play, saw their seven-game shutout streak also terminated as Alyssa Prince scored the first two goals of her season to give the Zias (6-5-0, 3-2-0 LSC) the win. Prince's first goal came in the 35th minute of play and capped a 786 minute scoreless streak by the ASU defense which had not allowed a single goal in month.
"We didn't come out and compete like we have been throughout the season," ASU head coach
Travis McCorkle said. "I think Eastern won about 75 percent of the 50-50 balls today and they kept finding ways to win the ball and disrupt our play. That's something that we weren't able to do. I thought our attacking players had a rough first half and our movement was not very good. We weren't committed to scoring and I felt like we had the mindset that it would happen eventually for us."
ASU, which is now 3-1 away from San Angelo, was held scoreless for only the second time in 12 games this season and surrendered two goals in a game also for the second time. The Rambelles outshot the Zias 11-8 in the game and had a 5-3 shot advantage throughout the 90 minutes of play.
Sierra Anderson led the Rambelles with four shots, while
Elizabeth Rodriguez had two shots and
Haley Mendel,
Selena Alvarez,
Tiffany Dang and
Brittany Martinez put pressure on ENMU with one shot on goal each. Dang had one of the strongest scoring opportunities for the Rambelles as her equalizing attempt was tipped by the ENMU goalkeeper and hit the crossbar with 37 seconds remaining in the first half.
Shantel Wittke recorded one save in the game where she played the entire 90 minutes. Wittke, who came into the game with seven shutouts and a 0.33 goals against average, couldn't stop Prince struck first in the 35th minute and then gave ENMU a 2-0 cushion with a 10-yard header off an assist from Melissa Moxley and Renee Romero. ENMU goalkeeper Fabienne Wilson recorded five saves in the game for the Zias. Wittke's personal record in goal moves to 8-1-1 on the season.
ENMU and Texas A&M-Commerce (8-4-0, 3-2-0 LSC) are currently tied for second in the LSC standings with nine points each, while West Texas A&M (6-7-0, 2-3-0 LSC) is fourth with six points after earning a 2-1 win over Midwestern State (6-2-5, 1-2-2 LSC) in a Sunday afternoon game in Canyon. TWU (7-5-1, 1-3-1 LSC) is sixth in the standings with four points after a 0-1 loss to the Lions on Thursday and not playing another conference game this weekend.
Angelo State resumes a four-game road trip this week with a 7 p.m. game on Friday at Texas Woman's in Denton before a 1 p.m. game next Sunday at Texas A&M-Commerce. ASU is 1-0 against both TWU and A&M-Commerce this season after earning 1-0 wins earlier this season against both opponents at the ASU Soccer Complex.
"We're going to have to be focused as we start the second half of conference play," McCorkle said. "We have to understand what we've done to win games and remember what we did to lose today. Whether it's a physical game or a technical game, we have to be good enough to figure out how to get the win."
