SAN MARCOS, Texas – Two early goals and a big performance between the posts from Katelyn Chrisman was the difference as the Texas State soccer team (7-1-1, 1-0-0 Sun Belt) claimed a 2-1 victory over Arkansas State (2-4-2, 0-1-0 Sun Belt) Saturday afternoon at the Bobcat Soccer Complex to open Sun Belt Conference play. The Bobcats improved to 8-1-1 all-time in Sun Belt openers.
“We’re pleased with the win and the overall result. This was not a pretty game and it was a grind,” said head coach Steve Holeman. “It looked like a game in 90-degree heat, but at the end of the day we got two goals, they came back to cut the lead in half and we eventually hung on. It was good to get the W but we can still learn from this.”
The Red Wolves outshot the Bobcats 13-10 and held an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal. TXST, on the other hand, took eight corner kicks while allowing only three. Addison Peters was the only Texas State player to take multiple shots with two on the afternoon.
Chrisman made a career-high nine saves. Her total is the most in a conference match by a Bobcat since Heather Martin recorded 10 stops at South Alabama on Sept. 23, 2018.
Westyn Henderson was able to get a shot off in the box late in the eighth minute that was blocked. The ball bounced right to Olivia Wright, who knocked it past the goalkeeper to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.
Late in the 19th minute, Wright sent a long ball down the far sideline that Zoe Junior was able to chase down and keep in play. She used her speed to get past one defender and then her agility to get by another. The sophomore sent a low shot past the diving goalie to increase the advantage to 2-0 and tally her team leading fourth goal of the season.
A little over a minute into the second half ASU nearly got onto the scoreboard when a header off a corner hit off the bottom of the cross and bounced down on the goal line. The ball did not completely go over the line and was then headed again while taking a slight deflection off a Bobcat to go over the bar for another corner kick.
The Red Wolves’ Phoebe Harpole took a shot on frame that saw Chrisman make a diving stop to continue to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
ASU would eventually tally a goal when Tara Lea headed in a short cross from Haley Husted halfway through the 78th minute.
Two more shots were taken by the Red Wolves with the only one on goal coming a little over 20 seconds after the goal off the foot of Lea. Her attempt from the top of the 18-yard box was right at Chrisman.
Next up for Texas State is a trip to the Peach State to take on Georgia Southern. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT in Statesboro.
