Women's Soccer Makes History

Corpus Christi, TX- In a historic match-up that marked two Texas-A&M system schools playing for the first time ever, A&M-San Antonio goalkeeper play, and late questionable officiating stood out.

Jaguar keepers Isabella Villarreal (Senior, San Antonio, TX) and Vendela Lantz (Freshmen, Saltsjö-Boo, Sweden) combined for 19 saves while conceding six goals.  

The fireworks started early for the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders with their first goal being scored at the 01:01 mark by Cilia Leal (assist by Madison Page). Following the first conceded goal, the A&M-San Antonio Jaguars dug their heals in with Isabella Villareal making several remarkable saves for the next half-hour of play. To be sure, Villareal's play in the first half was noteworthy, even garnering positive commentary from the Islander's broadcast crew.

The first half of play ended with a two-goal lead by the Islanders with a second goal scored by the Islander's Isabella Castellanos Lopes at the 31:38 mark.

The second half of the match opened with much of the same high pressure from the Islanders with the first goal of the second half coming at the 51:14 mark with an Islander's goal by Katie Porter (assisted by Daylan Nates). Another goal was conceded by the Jaguars at the 66:44 mark, yet again, by the Islander's Cilia Leal (assist by Alisa Divano).

With the game comfortably in hand by the Islanders, a questionable foul was called on the Jaguars in the Islander's box resulting in a penalty kick (PK). The Islander's Madison Page buried the PK in the Jaguar's net. Finally, the Islander's did their last bit of damage at the 89:29 mark with a Morgan Westbury goal, which was questionably offside but not called.

Head Coach Tim Moody said, "I am always optimistic. If you look at the big picture, we grew into the game and learned what it takes to play against a big strong physical team. We had the courage to play and gained more confidence on the ball as the game progressed, causing Corpus Christi a few problems. If we watch the game back and learn from the goals we conceded, we should be able to eliminate those issues moving forward. It was a valuable lesson for a young squad of players. This is just the beginning and our first real game. We can, and will, do much better if we continue to work hard at practice as a group. We believe that we will upset a few teams this fall as it is already starting to click. We are moving in the right direction, and we are excited for our next match on Friday."