Hounds earn LSC tie at St. Ed's

AUSTIN, Texas – A scoreless first half was followed by a relatively active second stanza on Wednesday as Eastern New Mexico University's men played St. Edward's to a 2-2 tie in Lone Star Conference soccer.

ENMU (2-3-4, 0-1-1 LSC) got a goal from junior forward Ben Sauerlander from about 35 yards in the 48th minute, off an assist from senior midfielder Giani Mascarel, and it looked for a while like that might hold up.

The Hilltoppers (3-3-3, 1-0-2) tied it in the 77th minute when sophomore Vicente Alvarez scored, heading the ball past Greyhounds freshman goalkeeper Milo Paci off a corner kick. But it took the Hounds only 14 seconds to regain the lead off the kickoff as junior defender Kris McDonald sent a long ball into the box, with freshman midfielder Pablo Nora sliding in to get it past St. Ed's sophomore keeper Kaleo Francis.

Once again, though, the Hilltoppers were able to pull even when Alvarez knocked in a curling shot off his left foot into the top left corner from about 20 yards out with just over five minutes left.

The stats favored St. Ed's, which had a 12-4 edge in shots on goal and an 8-1 margin in corner kicks. Paci collected 10 saves for ENMU, tied for the eighth-most in a match in program history.

It was the highest-scoring draw between the teams all-time, and the first time they've tied in Austin since 2011.

ENMU returned to action with a conference match on Saturday against Texas A&M International at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. The next outing for the Hounds is on Wednesday in a 6 p.m. home start against Oklahoma Christian.

Women's soccer – Freshman forward Jimena Rodriguez scored a pair of goals and collected an assist as Midwestern State pulled away with five second-half goals in a span of just over 22 minutes for a 6-1 LSC win over the Greyhounds on Wednesday night at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.

MSU (7-1-2, 3-0-2) led just 1-0 at halftime on senior forward Cassidy Savoy's sixth goal of the campaign in the 33rd minute. Rodriguez then collected her first goal of the match for a 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute.

Sophomore defender Averi Culver, senior midfielder Lexi Beck, Rodriguez and freshman midfielder Rylie Earle followed with tallies to put the contest out of reach. ENMU (2-6-1, 1-4) managed to break up freshman goalkeeper Annika Medellin's shutout with under four minutes remaining when freshman forward Cristabela Mendoza dribbled into the box from the left wing and got the ball to senior forward Jacqueline Garica for a goal.

ENMU played at St. Edward's on Saturday. The Hounds return to action with a 6 p.m. (MDT) conference tilt at Texas Woman's on Wednesday.

Volleyball – In a battle to escape the conference cellar, Cameron jumped on ENMU in the first two sets and the Aggies went on to a 25-20, 25-12, 18-25, 25-15 win over the Greyhounds on Wednesday night at Lawton, Okla., snapping a 17-match losing streak dating to last season.

Junior middle blocker Jennifer Valdez collected 14 kills and three block assists for the Aggies (1-14, 1-4), while freshman Kayla Eggiman collected nine kills, 13 assists and a pair of aces. Junior libero Shelby Rusch posted 26 digs while sophomore setter Emily Keohen and junior setter Rachael White had 24 and 16 digs, respectively.

For the Hounds senior Darcy Dodd had 11 kills, junior outside hitter Nevaeh Rodriguez delivered nine kills and senior outside hitter Halle Sanders finished with eight kills, 12 digs, two block assists and an ace. Junior libero/defensive specialist Imahni Brown had 27 digs freshman setter Cayla Reyes had a double-double with 10 digs and 10 assists and freshman setter Angelina Sanchez posted a team-high 19 assists.

It was Cameron's first win in the series since pulling out a five-setter in Lawton on Sept. 29, 2015, ending a streak of 11 victories by ENMU. The Hounds lead the all-time series 28-23.

Cameron's last win came on Nov. 4, 2023, when the Aggies beat Western New Mexico in four sets.

Cameron jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never relinquished it in Game 1. In the second set, the Aggies rolled to a 7-1 lead and didn't allow ENMU (3-13, 0-5) to get any closer than five after that.

The tables were turned in the third set, with ENMU bolting to a 9-4 lead and never trailing. The Hounds then led by as many as four early in Game 4, but the Aggies went on an 9-0 run featuring five consecutive ENMU attack effort before closing it out on a kill by Beggs.

ENMU hosted rival West Texas A&M in a Saturday matchup at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena. Next up for the Hounds is a trip to Texas-Tyler on Friday and Dallas Baptist on Saturday.