Zags Wrap up Non-Conference Slate in Texas
9/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SPOKANE, Wash.—After non-conference trips to California and Idaho, the Gonzaga University women's soccer team will head south to Texas this weekend for its final matches before West Coast Conference play begins.
The Zags enter the Texas trip coming off a strong weekend, taking Washington State to overtime before falling 2-1 Sept. 12, and then beating Boise State 2-0 in Boise, Idaho three days later. Offensively, the Zags showed some spark by taking 26 total shots and putting half of them on frame. Brittany Doan, Heather Johnson, and Tori Lee all found their scoring touch and netted the Zags their three goals during those matches.
The defense also showed improvement against the Northwest foes. Gonzaga held the Cougars—normally a dangerous team on free kicks—scoreless off set pieces and then tallied its third clean sheet of the season at Boise State.
This improvement could be attributed to stability throughout the lineup. Nine Bulldogs players have started all eight matches so far this season, and seven field players have played more than 500 minutes. Additionally, keeper Christie Tombari has played all but 13 minutes in goal, solidifying a defense that has had time to gel.
Looking ahead to this weekend's matches, the Zags will take on a tough opponent in North Texas and end the trip with a feisty SMU squad.
"I am happy with this team's growth over the past week," said Gonzaga head coach Amy Edwards. "We are facing a very good North Texas team on Friday so we will need to bring a lot of energy to that match."
The Mean Green are 6-1-0, recently falling to Oklahoma in double overtime Sept. 12 and beating Houston Baptist 2-0 two days later. They have five clean sheets on the season and a save percentage of 89.3%, 10th-best in Division I. Opponents have managed three goals against North Texas all season, two of them coming from then-No. 15 Oklahoma.
The match at North Texas will kick off at 5:00 p.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 19.
Two days later, the Zags will take the short drive to Dallas for an 11:00 a.m. showdown with SMU. The Mustangs are 3-4-0 so far this season with a game scheduled at TCU Sept. 19. After being shutout in their first two matches, they've scored at least once in each match since. Midfielder Claire Oates leads the squad with five points—two goals and one assist—while Lissi Lonsberry has spent most of the time in goal, compiling a goals-against average of 1.49.
Live stats and video information for both matches may be found on the women's soccer schedule page of www.gozags.com.
