MT. PLEASANT, TX – No. 13 LSU Eunice Women's Soccer was able to claw out of an early hole, taking a 3-2 victory over Northeast Texas CC on the road on Wednesday. It was the Bengals' (1-1-1) first official win under first year head coach Brock Ogami.
The Eagles took advantage of some early miscues by the Bengals to take a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. A poor defensive clearance led to the first goal ten minutes in, followed by a long through ball that would also result in a goal a few minutes later.
The early deficit cast a shadow on an otherwise dominant performance by the Bengals offense. LSUE would control on the NTCC end for the majority of contest, eventually paying off with the Bengals' comeback.
LSUE would start its rally in the 25th minute as
Isabelle Smith (Lafayette, LA, Acadiana HS) connected with
Lucia Lorenzo-Parga (Galicia, Spain, IES Rafael Dieste) on a through ball as Lorenzo-Parga slipped one past the NTCC goalkeeper. Parga would equalize in the 77th minute with a beautiful finish, taking a long pass from
Marta San Teodoro-Gonzalez (Asturias, Spain, Colegio Paula Frassinetti) in stride and bouncing it over the charging Eagle keeper.
The Bengals would finally push ahead just a few minutes later as LSU Eunice would use take advantage of a poor pass in the defensive end by the NTCC goalkeeper. Isabelle Smith would intercept, take a few dribbles before scorching the game winning goal. The 80th minute tally is Smith's third goal of the early season.
Smith would put four of the Bengals' ten shots on frame.
Outside of the few minutes NTCC used to score its two goals, it was business as usual for the goalkeeping duo of
Leigh Brophy (Cape Town, South Africa, Groote Schuur HS) and
Avery Wright (Temple, TX, Salado HS). Each goalkeeper would grab a save as LSUE did not face any other offensive pressure from the Eagles.
LSU Eunice continues its Texas road trip this weekend with a pair of games at Western Texas College and Mountain View College. The Bengals and Westerners meet at 10:00AM on Monday, September 5.
