Junior midfielder Victoria Meza scored in the 48th minute as Texas State defeated the Troy Trojans 1-0 for the Bobcat’ second straight conference win.
Texas State improves to 5-2-3 while Troy drops to 5-4-1.
“I told the team [it was] a little bit of mixed emotions,” Head Coach Steve Holeman said. “I don’t think we played very well in the first half, but the good news was we turned it around. We came back and played a really good second half. Troy had a good tactical approach to the game, had a really good game plan, and created lots of opportunities.
“We were fortunate to shut them out and once again, Brooklyn had to come up with a big save at the end to keep our lead. We got the goal we needed, so we’ll take the three points.”
The first half was a defensive battle as neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Bobcats made four shots on goal, only for Troy goalkeeper Taylor Richards to make four saves in the first half.
Going into halftime, the Bobcats and Holeman looked to make a secondhalf adjustment to conquer the Troy defensive front.
“They were playing in the 3-6-1, so they really clogged up the midfield,” Holeman said. “One of our strengths is to play in the midfield, but it ended up being so many kids in there that we weren’t able to change the point, doing kind of what we wanted to do. We were having a lot of success on the flanks so we switched into a 4-3-3.
“That made a difference. We got our outside backs in and the wingers were set high. We figured they would have to adjust into a back four. So we pressed a little better in the second half and locked them in. We knew they were getting near some counters and they created opportunities from that. So I think we did a good job of stifling that.”
The payoff for the Bobcats came in the 48th minute. Following the corner kick which saw senior Mady Soumare pass the ball to sophomore Helen Alormenu, Alormenu found Meza in the middle of the Troy defense. After volleying the ball, Meza made the shot in the upper frame of the goal, just past the fingertips of the goalkeeper to put the Bobcats up 1-0.
“I just know Helen [Alormenu] always sees me when I’m at the box,” Meza said. ”So I’m just trying to be as free as I can, and they were all shifting this way because the ball looked kind of over. But it dropped right on me. It bounced away from them.”
Troy had a shot to tie the game later in the 60th minute. On a breakaway, Troy’s Jiselle Daniels broke free to set up a one-on-one situation with Bobcat goalkeeper Brooklyn Escobar. Daniels made the shot on goal towards the back post only for Escobar to make a one-handed save to prevent the goal.
“I kind of read her,” Escobar said. “I knew she was going to go to the back post, so I was like, ‘All right, I just need to save this and then hopefully we’ll be okay.’” Troy was unable to score again as the Bobcats came away with the win.
Texas State currently sits tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference overall standings with ULM at seven points, trailing South Alabama at nine points.
The Bobcats return home Saturday against the Georgia State Panthers. The Panthers are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd and are fourth in the Sun Belt Conference standings with five points.
Kickoff for Texas State-Georgia State is set for 7 p.m. at the Bobcat Soccer Complex.
