STEPHENVILLE, Texas — It was a special scene at the Tarleton State Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon, as the Texans celebrated nine seniors and also hosted Greek Life Day. A great crowd featuring seniors' families in the stands, plus Tarleton State's fraternities and sororities lined the edge of the field with couches, and all witnessed a solid battle between Tarleton State and Utah Valley.
The Texans (7-7-6, 1-5-4 WAC) lost 3-0 to the WAC regular season champion Wolverines (13-4-2, 9-0-1 WAC). It was a scoreless affair at halftime, with Tarleton State goalkeeper
Rylie Bloomfield making five incredible saves to impress the Texan crowd. The Wolverines proved too much, though, scoring three goals over a four-minute stretch and outshooting the Texans 21-5, with a 9-1 shots on goal advantage.
Utah Valley also had nine corner kicks to Tarleton State's two. There were three yellow cards on Sunday, two to Utah Valley and one to Tarleton State.
Tarleton State's season is now over, due to the loss and Abilene Christian beating California Baptist on Sunday. The Texans entered the contest tied with Southern Utah with seven conference points in the battle for the fourth and final spot in the WAC Tournament. ACU was at six points entering the day. With ACU's win and Tarleton State's loss, the Wildcats own a 9-7 point advantage. Southern Utah and Utah Tech play later Sunday night to decide if the Thunderbirds or Wildcats will make the WAC Tournament.
To start the game on Sunday, Tarleton State celebrated its nine longstanding seniors;
Mikayla Kendall, Bloomfield,
Avery Harr,
Kyra Goudzwaard,
Kaitlyn Flanagan,
Teeghan Dodd,
Jaycie Bass,
Macy Hellwig and
Stevie Reynolds. Eight of those nine players have been with Tarleton State since the program started play in 2022, and were instrumental in playing four full seasons with the Texans to elevate the program to where it is today.
On the pitch, Utah Valley went on the attack quickly, firing a shot on goal just a minute into the game, which Bloomfield saved. That was the first of four saves by Bloomfield within the first 12 minutes alone, with multiple diving efforts to keep the Wolverines out of the net.
In the 20th minute, Utah Valley's Ruby Hladek was assessed a yellow card for dissent after a non-call in Utah Valley's zone.
Tarleton State switched goalkeepers at halftime, with Kendall in the box the final 45 minutes. Eight minutes into the second half, Utah Valley's Mia Owens was assessed a yellow card for a rough foul on
Victoria Lucksinger, then two minutes later, Tarleton State's
Stevie Reynolds returned the favor and was also given a yellow card.
In the 64th minute, Kendall made a great save to keep it a scoreless game before the Wolverines went on a run to remain unbeaten in conference play. Faith Webber scored her first of two goals in the 68th minute, assisted by Taylor Nelson. In the 71st minute, Webber scored again, on assists by Nelson and Sierra Pennock. In the 72nd minute, Bailey Peterson scored to make it 3-0, with Lulie MacFarlane on the assist.
Dodd, Flanagan,
Zoe Ballard and
Reegan Wagg each played all 90 minutes for Tarleton State.
Sam Liaty had the lone shot on goal for Tarleton State, with five different Texans taking a shot. Utah Valley's Webber had two goals, five shots on goal and seven shots total.
Tarleton State finishes its fourth season of competition with seven losses, the fewest in Texan history.
