FOLEY, Ala. – The Texas State soccer team kept the pressure on and ball mostly in the Troy defensive end for most of the match. However, a long ball that sprang a breakaway saw the Bobcats fall 1-0 to the Trojans Monday evening at the Foley Sports Complex in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
 
With the loss, Texas State ends the season 4-9-1 while Troy is now 2-8-1 overall and advance to play Georgia State on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
 
Karlee Torisk had the first shot of the match, taking an attempt from about 25 yards nearly just over five minutes into the contest that was caught by the goalkeeper.
 
Almost halfway through the 27th minute, Mackenzie Smith nearly put the Bobcats on the scoreboard. A battle in the box saw the ball come to Kayla Streber, who passed over to an open Smith. The Cypress, Texas produce had a solid strike with her left foot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and stayed in the field of play.
 
Just over a minute after Smith's near tally, she chipped a pass over the Trojan backline that saw Sydney Kammer get behind. The senior forward took a one-touch strike that saw the keeper come up with the stop. Kammer nearly had another look as she won a battle for the rebound from a defender and was then taken down, but no whistle was blown that would have awarded TXST a penalty kick.
 
The Bobcats kept the pressure on for nearly the rest of the half until the very end when the Trojans started to get into their offensive third. A shot from about 40 yards out by Melissa Kuya-Strobel was caught by Beth Agee with 46 seconds left in the half for Troy's lone shot on goal of the period as both teams went into the break scoreless.
 
In the second half, Texas State kept the pressure on to outshoot Troy 8-1 with a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal. One of the best looks for the Bobcats came with just under a minute left in regulation. Bailey Peschel unleashed a shot that saw the goalkeeper make a diving stop with both Kiara Gonzales and Kammer there for a possible rebound.
 
Just 10 seconds into overtime, Kammer intercepted a pass and took a shot at the top of the box that hit off a defender and out of bounds. The senior forward had one final attempt in the 94th minute that was wide of frame.
 
From just outside the midfielder circle in the Trojans' defensive half, Kate Eubanks sent a long ball down the field midway through the 96th minute. A Bobcat defender was there to kick the ball but missed on the attempt to spring Erin Bloomfield for a breakaway. She slotted the ball into the bottom right corner for the golden goal.
 
Overall, Texas State outshot Troy 16-5, had an 8-3 lead in shots on goal and 7-1 in corner kicks. Both Kammer and Smith took a match-high four shots with half on frame. Torisk attempted three shots with two being on goal while both Gonzales and Moore took two shots each.
 
Playing all 96 minutes, Holly Streber surpassed Ali Jones and Jordan Kondikoff to move up to seventh on the program's career minutes list at 5,564
 
Agee made two saves on the night to conclude her freshman campaign with 71.
 
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