RIVERSIDE, California - Tarleton State fought hard tonight in a back-and-forth match that ended with California Baptist taking a 2-0 win.
The Texans and the Lancers battled until the end in their close matchup at the CBU Soccer Stadium. Both teams maintained possession for nearly an even amount of time, with California Baptist gaining the slight advantage over Tarleton State.
The Texans took an early shot to start the match off, recording the first shot of the night. In the 2nd minute of the game, Sammy Schulze launched the ball from the right corner of the field, but it was sent off the top of the crossbar.
Tarleton State had another great chance in the 11th minute of the game. A handball by the Lancers resulted in a free kick awarded to the Texans. Zoe Ballard fired the free kick from the middle of the field, but it was sent just over the top of the net.
Mikayla Kendall made a good save in the 30th minute of play. After stealing the ball, Anja Jestrovic dribbled the ball into the right side of the box where she took a shot, but it was caught by Kendall in the bottom right of the goal.
At the conclusion of the first half, both teams recorded three shots and four corner kicks.
Kendall made another great save early in the second half, keeping the Lancers scoreless. Jestrovic took another shot at the net, this time from the right side of the field just outside the box, but it was scooped up by Kendall before making it into the net.
The Purple and White had a good set of back-to-back chances at putting a score on the board. Dribbling up the center of the field, Sammy Schulze passed the ball over to Zoe Ballard who then passed it back to Schulze. Schulze immediately sent it across to Jaycie Bass. Bass crossed it back over to Schulze who dribbled it up the center of the box to the goalie area where she was met by Mikayla O'Brien. Only seconds later, Sam Liaty took another shot for the Texans, firing the ball from the left side of the field but it went just above the goal.
With 31 minutes left in the match, the Lancers launched a corner kick from the left side of the field, but the ball was punched away by Kendall.
California Baptist notched a pair of goals late in the match to secure their 2-0 win over the Texans.
The Lancers outshot the Texans 14-7 and had a slight corner kick advantage of 7-5 in tonight's matchup. Kendall remained in the net for the entire game and recorded 5 saves for the night. Each athlete in the Tarleton State starting lineup played at least 70 minutes, with seven playing the full 90 minutes and only three substitutes coming off the bench.
Tarleton State will return home this week to host two conference matchups. The Texans will start off their week with their Purple Out match against Southern Utah on Thursday. They will then take on Utah Tech during their Youth Soccer Day on Sunday.
