Box Score Las Vegas, N.M. – The Cowgirl Soccer team dominated the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks, 3-1, in their final home game of the season, on Oct. 25, at Perkins Stadium. The Cowgirls controlled much of the possession in the game and threw a relentless attack at the Mavericks' goal throughout the 90 minutes on Friday night. NMHU outshot the Mavericks 28-11, placing 13 shots on target. The Cowgirls scored goals in the seventh, 54th, and 60th minutes, with the Mavericks picking up their lone goal in the 74th minute. The Cowgirls, led by Head Coach
Justin Wagar, improve to 5-5-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 7-5-3 in overall play.
NMHU 3 – CMU 1
Before the match, NMHU Athletics honored the four Cowgirl Soccer seniors for their dedication to the program and the university.
Jaime Sawchuk,
Nikita Rivera, Caitlyn Cook, and
Grace Thompson were well received at a Senior Day ceremony before the match began.
The Cowgirls were hungry for a victory in their final home match of the season and took the attack straight to the Mavericks. They had two shots in the first two minutes of play, with one of the shots on goal and saved by the Mavericks keeper.
In the seventh minute,
Andrea Duke broke the ice for the Cowgirls.
Jasmine Waugaman intercepted and an errant CMU pass and dribble down the right side of the pitch before laying a nice pass to Duke on the left side of the field. Duke shot low and hard to the right corner of the goal, giving the Cowgirls the early 1-0 lead.
The Cowgirls pummeled the Mavericks' keeper with 13 shots in the first half of play and their efforts resulted in a 1-0 lead at the halftime break.
In the second half, the Cowgirls picked up right where they left off, taking four shots in the first 6:30 of the half. It was in the 54th minute when their efforts would pay off again. Freshman
Anyssa Dagnino has been playing fast all year and her tireless drive finally paid off against the Mavericks with her first goal of the season.
Crystal Schuder took the ball down the pitch and passed the ball to
Nicole Millar who carried it through the final third. Millar played a beautiful through-ball that left the CMU defense baffled and found
Anyssa Dagnino. Dagnino slipped the defenders and hit the ball low into the corner of the net from point blank range, extending the Cowgirls' lead to 2-0.
Just five minutes later,
Anyssa Dagnino showed up again with her second goal of the game and her second goal of the season. Once again
Jasmine Waugaman was quickly transitioning an offensive attack of a defensive stop and she passed the ball into the middle of the pitch, finding
Nicole Millar running down the center. Millar used some flashy footwork before launching a shot at the goal from about 25 yards out. The ball was too hot for the CMU keeper and Dagnino was in the box to clean up the rebound, giving the Cowgirls a comfortable 3-0 lead.
The Mavericks felt the urgency of the situation and tried to turn up the intensity. They finally found a consolation goal in the 74th minute. Taylor Franklin drove the ball down the right wing all the way to the end line. She created some space and lofted a perfect cross into the six-yard box. CMU's Kendra Penchoff managed to find the ball in traffic and squeezed a shot into the net from point blank range, cutting the Cowgirls' lead down to 3-1.
The Mavericks had a few more opportunities but NMHU was riding high with the momentum and simply smothered possession going down the stretch. When the final horn sounded to end the game, the Cowgirls had come away with a sound 3-1 victory over the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa University.
Andrea Duke continues to lead the Cowgirls in scoring for 2013 with seven goals. Her seventh minute goal gave NMHU the initial lead in the game on Friday night.
Speedy poacher
Anyssa Dagnino saw her hard work pay off against the Mavericks with two goals.
Nicole Millar and
Jasmine Waugaman both finished the game with two assists.
The victory moves the Cowgirls past the Mavericks into fifth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings. With just three matches left in the regular season, the Cowgirls are well positioned to grab one of the six places in the conference tournament. NMHU Women's Soccer needs just one win in their last three conference road games to secure a spot in the postseason tournament.
The Cowgirls will continue conference action on Sunday, Oct. 27, when they travel up to Denver, Colo. to take on the Metropolitan State University Roadrunners. The Cowgirls will face a tough road battle against the conference's second ranked Roadrunners, who enter the match with a 9-1-1 record in the RMAC and 11-1-3 in overall play. If you can't make the trip up to Denver to catch your Cowgirls in action, you can click
HERE to follow the action on Live Stats. You can also watch the match live on the internet video stream provided by the
America One Network.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
