Victory moves Hounds into third in women's soccer

PORTALES — The next four road games will determine whether the Eastern New Mexico women's soccer team not only seals a Lone Star Conference tournament spot, but hosts a first-round game.

Thanks to Friday's last scheduled home game, the Greyhounds are in the driver's seat to do both of those things. A pair of late goals in each half propelled Eastern to a 2-0 win over Midwestern State and a three-point adrenaline shot into the LSC standings.

With the win, the Greyhounds (6-5-2, 4-3-1) briefly moved into a tie for second place in LSC play with 13 points, before Angelo State regained sole possession of the spot with a 3-1 win Friday night over Texas A&M-Commerce.

"I thought it was big for us to get the win," ENMU coach Joshua Smith said. "We've really positioned ourselves well within the conference. We're really in a position, if we take care of business, to host a first-round game.

Eastern hasn't clinched a playoff berth but it's as close as you can get. The Greyhounds only miss the six-team field if they go 0-4 or 0-3-1 in their final four road games and last-place Texas-Permian Basin (1-11, 0-7) wins its final five games.

"It feels good," Greyhound sophomore midfielder Hayden Zuniga said. "Last year, I think we struggled. It's different this year. Our program is building; you can see it."

The tournament format includes the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed, the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed, the top two seeds getting a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed hosting the final two rounds.

West Texas A&M, undefeated so far in LSC play, has the inside track for the No. 1 seed with 19 conference points so far. After that, it's Angelo State, Eastern and Texas A&M-Commerce.

Going against former coach Ryan Spence, who preached a defense-first style in his lone season leading the Greyhounds, it was a scoreless game for most of the first half, until Eastern capitalized on a Midwestern State miscue.

Defender Brandy Villasana took a quick pass from goalkeeper McKenna Williams up the right side, only to meet Greyhound junior Samantha Fabela. After picking Villasana clean, Fabela had no defenders in sight and fired a 25-yard shot that Williams had no chance at as it sailed inside the left post.

Having had Fabela on his roster last year, Spence knew it was trouble to see her with an uncontested chance.

"Just making mistakes," Spence said. "We throw the ball to a defender who's alone when there's no reason to go there."

Spence knew entering the season that the Greyhounds would be formidable, as he left a good amount of talent in the program before taking the job at his alma mater.

"They thrive on emotion," Spence said. "When things get grittier, they get better. They want you to get scrappy. They've filled in a few holes we had last year. Josh has done a great job of taking them forward."

Smith felt the team played with more energy and creativity in the second half, in which they controlled most of the action. When Julie Tucker blasted a shot past Williams with 47 seconds to go, it was more exclamation point than insurance goal.

It was definitely the medicine ENMU needed following Wednesday's 2-1 loss to WT.

"We've done really well after we lose to recover and improve," Smith said. "Some temas plateau."

The Greyhounds begin their four-game road stretch Friday at Texas Woman's.

West Texas A&M 2, Eastern New Mexico 1 — All three goals came in the second half, with the Buffs drawing first blood on a 55th-minute corner kick. Samantha Silvestre's kick took a slight bend and went off of Taylor Jackson's hands for the goal.

Hannah Kelley-Lusk added the insurance with her eighth goal of the season, corralling her own rebound 20 minutes later.

The Greyhounds outshot 12-5 on the evening and 7-2 on goal, spoiled Courtney Dippel's shutout bid when Madison Luttrell scored with 5:28 remaining.