TXST SOCCER
For the first time since 2011, the Bobcats are heading to the NCAA Tournament.
In their last season in the conference, Texas State won their first and last Sun Belt tournament championship, defeating the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks 1-0 to take the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.
It is the Bobcats’ first conference tournament title since 2011 when Texas State won the Southland Tournament championship while also ending ULM’s 15-match unbeaten streak.
The game was a defensive battle from the jump as neither team got off a shot in the first 20 minutes of the title match. In the 30th and 31st minute, freshmen Sadie Guzman and Matsuri Tsutsui both made shots on goal only to be saved by ULM goal keeper Jen Handy.
Guzman later made another shot for the Bobcats in the 41st minute only for the ball to hit off the crossbar.
ULM had an opportunity in the 42nd minute to take the lead but a team save by the Bobcats kept the Warhawks off the scoreboard.
Going into halftime, both the Bobcats and Warhawks were deadlocked at 0-0.
After making two close attempts at scoring the game-leading goal, Guzman capitalized in the second half.
On the breakaway, Guzman collected the ball on the outside of the penalty box to beat the goal keeper before making the shot past a ULM defender that went into the back corner of the net, giving the Bobcats the lead at 1-0.
After Guzman’s goal, the Warhawks were unable to get a shot-on-goal as the Bobcats backline held firm and kept ULM off the scoreboard.
The clock hit 90 minutes as Texas State rushed the field to celebrate a 10 win over the Warhawks.
Junior defender Victoria Meza was named the Sun Belt Tournament’s Most Outstanding Players while senior Chloe Jones was named the Elite Award winner.
Making the All-Tournament team was sophomore middlefielder Helen Alormenu, graduate senior defender Kennley Bradley and senior goal keeper Maude Rouanet.
This will be the Bobcats sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history dating back to 1999.
