The Master's University women's soccer team began its eastern road trip on Jan. 25 with an impressive 1-0 victory over Mobile (Ala.). The Mustangs made sure they ended it in similar fashion.
After losing consecutive back-to-back tightly-contested games against two of the top teams in the NAIA, Master's rebounded with another 1-0 win, this time over St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday morning.
"I was excited to get out of here 2-2," Master's head coach
Curtis Lewis said. "That's pretty much what we wanted. We played very well against Southeastern. We figured some stuff out in the second half against William Carey. We were able to get wins over Mobile and St. Thomas. To walk out of here 2-2 with a very young team is I think a really positive road trip."
The Mustangs outshot the Bobcats seven to four in the opening half, but neither team was able to break the deadlock in what was the fourth game in eight days for Master's.
"It was a very scrappy game," Lewis said. "We had very tired legs, playing four games in such a short period of time. You could really see it."
TMU picked up its offensive pressure in the second half, outshooting St. Thomas nine to four and finding the breakthrough in the 53rd minute via a
Kayla Monick goal, her first of the season.
Emma Hopkins served in a low ball in from the left flank, which the Bobcats' goalkeeper could not hang onto, with Monick waiting to pounce and put the Mustangs in front.
From then on, TMU's defense held firm, only allowing one shot on goal, which was saved by fill-in goalkeeper
Anay Garcia, who tallied two saves to record her second-career shutout.
Not only is Lewis pleased about how his team performed on the field during its road trip back east, but also with the time his players got to spend together off of it.
"Hopefully the girls had lots of great memories," Lewis said. "They were able to go to Animal Kingdom, stay in a big house together and enjoy time together."
The Mustangs are scheduled to return to the field in two weeks for a neutral-site game against Corban University (Ore.) on Feb. 15 at 1:00 p.m. The game will be played in Rocklin on the campus of William Jessup University.
