Patriots make early goal stand against ENMU

Sophomore forward Gavyn Rosales scored in the 12th minute and Dallas Baptist held Eastern New Mexico University to no shots on goal Wednesday night in a key 1-0 Lone Star Conference victory over the Greyhounds at Steve Loy Stadium.

The win pushed the Patriots (4-3-6, 3-1-2 LSC) ahead of ENMU (4-4-5, 2-2-2) and into a tie for third place with St. Edward’s (5-4-3, 3-1-2) in the conference standings. Meantime, the Hounds dropped into a share of fifth place in the league with Lubbock Christian (5-5-4, 2-3-2), each with eight points.

The top six teams in the 11-team circuit make it to the conference postseason tournament in early November.

Dallas Baptist put the pressure on early, and in the 12th minute freshman midfielder Chase Turcotte was able to send a pass to Rosales, whose shot got past ENMU freshman goalkeeper Milo Paci and into the lower right corner of the net.

The Hounds had several opportunities in the early going of the second half, but couldn’t convert.

DBU had only a 16-14 margin in total shots, but it was 7-0 on goal. Paci notched five saves for the Hounds, who posted a 5-3 margin in corner kicks.

It was only the second win all-time for the Patriots over ENMU (2-9-1), and their first in Portales.

Four matches remain for the Hounds, three on the road. They traveled to Alpine, Texas, on Saturday to face Sul Ross State in a rematch of their non-league meeting at ENMU on Sept. 28, won by the Hounds 2-0.

Next up after that is a trip to rival West Texas A&M on Wednesday.

Volleyball – ENMU came up just short in its bid to snap an eight-match LSC losing streak on Friday, with St. Mary’s pulling out a 25-18, 25-22, 12-25, 23-25, 15-8 victory at Steve Loy Arena.

ENMU (3-18, 0-9 LSC) rebounded from a slow start to dominate the third set, then pulled out a tight Game 4 to bring the contest to sudden death.

The Rattlers (13-7, 5-4), who were able to snap their own losing streak at four, scored the first three points of the fifth set and never looked back.

Senior outside hitter Alicia Virth posted 25 of the Rattlers’ 62 kills, and added 11 digs and three block assists. Junior outside hitter Landri Withers also had a double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs while freshman outside hitter Taylor Alston chipped in 10 kills.

Junior defensive specialist Alyssa Koehl led six St. Mary’s players with double-figure digs, finishing with 41, and senior setter Cali Nims collected 53 assists.

The Hounds got double-doubles from freshman setter Cayla Reyes (26 digs, 41 assists) and senior outside hitters Darcy Dodd (21 kills, 22 digs) and Halle Sanders (11 kills, 10 digs). Sanders also delivered three block solos.

Junior defensive specialist Imahni Brown just missed a double-double with nine assists and 20 digs. Five Hounds had double figures in digs, with junior outside hitter Neveah Brown also collecting 22.

ENMU had season highs in assists (52), aces (10), digs (105) and solo blocks (six).

On Saturday, the Hounds hosted St. Edward’s. This week, they’re at Oklahoma Christian in a 5 p.m. (MDT) start on Wednesday before welcoming Sul Ross State in a 2 p.m. start on Saturday.