Game Notes
SAN MARCOS, Texas – After back-to-back double-overtime affairs last weekend, the Texas State soccer team is preparing to host a pair of matches in hopes of turning around its three-match winless streak.
On Friday evening, Texas State welcomes former Southland Conference opponent Sam Houston State to the Bobcat Soccer Complex. The Bearkats have started this season with a 2-2-1 overall record and this is their second to last non-conference match up before conference play. The Bobcats, however, have two more non-conference contests on tap after the match against Sam Houston State.
When comparing schedules, the Bearkats played host to Prairie View A&M and picked up a 3-0 victory over the Panthers. Other games on the Bearkat scheduled included a win against Texas Southern and losses against North Texas and Texas-San Antonio. In the midst of those matches, Sam Houston picked up a tie against South Dakota State.
The Bobcats are 13-1-1 all-time against Sam Houston State with their most recent victory coming last season in Huntsville. The last victory at the Bobcat Soccer Complex was on August 19, 2012 when Texas State won by a score of 1-0.
On Sunday, the Bobcats are set to host Texas-El Paso, a squad that has started the 2013 season with a 3-2-1 overall record. Prior to the match on Sunday, UTEP travels to Houston for a non-conference contest against Houston Baptist.
UTEP holds an 8-2 advantage over the Bobcats. Texas State's last victory over the Miners came on September 4, 2011 as the Bobcats won in a 1-0 overtime shutout at the Bobcat Soccer Complex.
The Miners are proving to be a first half scoring team, scoring seven out of their nine goals this season in the first half.
Jade Babcock is a primary offensive threat for the Miners, leading the team with three goals and 11 shots on goal.
Quotes from head coach
Kat Conner about the matches this weekend:
What are your thoughts leading into the Sam Houston State match?
"We're really focusing on ourselves. We're trying to clean up some holes that we've had. Again, we saw some mistakes playing McNeese that we realized we've got to clean up. Rice exposed us as well in the same areas and we have got to clean those areas up. Then offensively, we've got to do better at getting in behind and we're not getting the looks we want. We're getting some good looks, but they're not good enough to score. We need to make sure we're doing better with that."
What can you take away from the match against Rice?
"[First off] it was a plus. [It's hard to] start off a game and play for 45 minutes and then have a 10 minute spurt before having to come off again for an hour and a half delay. To be able to come out and fight like they did [after the delay] and keep their mental focus [is hard to do], and I'm very proud of them for that. I think it shows that they are maturing up enough to stay in the battle and not just let something distract them."
Thoughts on your back-to-back overtime matches this past weekend…
Any time you go into overtime it helps you out for postseason play. You never know when that might happen in postseason so we're getting better at that. That golden goal really helps you get a mental focus and make you get stronger mentally to make no mistakes because that could cost you. In a way I kind of like overtime because that really gets them more focused."
