Soccer | 11/2/2016 10:04:00 AM
SAN ANGELO -Â The Angelo State soccer team will travel back to Commerce, Texas this weekend to kick off the postseason in the Lone Star Conference tournament, facing Texas Woman's at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.
The Belles (11-6-1, 7-5-0 LSC) finished the regular season in fourth place overall, behind Texas A&M-Commerce, West Texas A&M and Midwestern State. Finishing behind ASU in the fifth and sixth spots for the tournament was Texas Woman's and Eastern New Mexico.
2016 marked the fifth season in a row for the Belles to finish with double digit wins, and was the 12th time in program history for the team to do so.
ASU will be returning to Commerce after playing its final regular season game of the year there this past Sunday. The Belles finished on top in the matchup, defeating the Lions 1-0 on a goal from Demi Tsambasis.
Tsambasis is now second in the conference in goals with 13, and her total is good for No. 21 in the nation. Six of the senior's goals have been game-winners this season, which ranks No. 4 in the nation and first in the LSC. The total also ties Tsambasis for the single-season record at ASU, matching former Belle Sierra Anderson's total in the 2014 season.
Tied for second on the team in goals are forwards Loni Byers and Trenadey Scott with three apiece. Both Byers and Scott also have one assist for a total of seven points on the season. Three other Belles have multiple goals on the season, including Analise Watson, Cynthia Andrews and Ally Warren, while Tiffany Dang and Megan Allen each have a goal apiece as well.
Assisting the most goals this season has been defender Shay Williams, who has four. Tsambasis and Dang are right behind Williams with three apiece, and four other Belles have recorded two assists this year, including Megan Allen, Morgan Sibson, Callie Smith and Haley Mendel.
The Belles remained strong on defense to get the win and only allowed one goal in their two weekend matchups. The back line of Ashley Exford, Lauren Perry, Shay Williams, Callie Smith, Molly Warren and Kylie Deel held both opponents to less than five shots on goal. The Pioneers only got off five in the Friday night match, scoring their lone goal 17 minutes into the match and the defense held the Lions to just four shots on frame on Sunday.
The shutout was ASU's seventh on the season and the first since the Belles' 2-0 win against Texas Woman's on October 9. Giving up just the one goal on the weekend dropped ASU's goals against average to .694, which is good for first in the conference and ranks No. 46 in the nation.
Sammy Cude was the goalkeeper for both the shutout win and the loss on Friday, moving the freshman's record to 10-6-1 on the season. Cude made four saves in the Friday night loss to TWU and again in the win over TAMUC, pushing her season total to 55.
Cude has played in all 18 games for the Belles this season and has only allowed 12 goals in that time, for a save percentage of .821, which ranks fourth in the LSC.
Texas Woman's is coming into Thursday night's matchup after losing its final regular season match to Texas- Permian Basin, which did not make the postseason tournament. The Pioneers started off hot in 2016, winning their first four matches, but eventually cooled off, finishing with a 9-8-1 record. The Belles split the two matches against TWU this season, winning 2-0 in the match in San Angelo and falling 1-0 on the road.
"We just lost to them," ASU head soccer coach Travis McCorkle said. "So, I hope the girls are prepared to go in and show the performance that they did two game ago when we played against Texas Woman's and I thought did exceptionally well. We outshot them 23-3 that day and played well, so I hope that's what's on their mind, but they also have to realize that this is a different team and a different day so we've got to go out there and compete."
