ENMU women win in return to pitch

PORTALES — It’s been a long time since Eastern New Mexico University had played a women’s soccer match.

Back in competition for the first time in more than 600 days, the Greyhounds got two second-half goals from Katey Stice and made them stand up for a season-opening 2-0 win over Colorado State-Pueblo in the coaching debut of Abbey Barnum on Thursday at Greyhound Stadium.

Stice, a senior forward/midfielder from Odessa, Texas, netted her tallies in a span of just over nine minutes near the midpoint of the second half. She was assisted by junior forward/midfielder Tori Galindo on the first score and by sophomore forward/midfielder Kelsey Medina on the second.

Other than that, the match was pretty even. The Thunderwolves and Hounds each had six shots on goal, while Pueblo posted six corner kicks to just one for ENMU.

Senior Whitney Dockweiler earned the shutout in goal for the Hounds.

ENMU’s last match came on Nov. 9, 2019, when it completed an 8-8-1 season with a 3-0 loss at Lubbock Christian. Two days prior, the Hounds won at Texas-Permian Basin 1-0.

Their last match at home before Thursday came on Nov. 2, 2019, when they edged Midwestern State 2-1 with a pair of second-half goals.

Thursday’s contest for ENMU was the first of five in a row to against Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents to start the season. ENMU’s next outing is on Sunday when it welcomes Colorado Christian to Greyhound Stadium for a noon kickoff.