‘Cats rally to stun Troy, clinch conference tournament bid

Texas State rallied scoring two goals in the final seven minutes to defeat the Troy Trojans in a thrilling 2-1 win for the Bobcats.

The road victory not only puts the Bobcats ahead in the Sun Belt West Division standings with 16 points, but Texas State has now qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament which starts in the first week of November.

Despite the slow start, for head soccer coach Steve Holeman, being able to make changes at halftime was the key to the Bobcats gaining those always important three points, especially being in a hostile environment.

“We were not very good in the first half, which is not something we have seen from this team before,” Holeman said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and were much better and more focused. It was a bit of a grind, but we found a way to get three points on the road which is never easy. Proud of this team and their continued effort to fight to the end.”

Down 1-0 late in the second half, the Bobcats tied the game up at 1-1 when sophomore forward Zoe Junior made the cross to senior forward Kiara Gonzales who sent the ball past the goalkeeper into the back post for the eqaulizer.

Texas State then capitalized on a corner kick with about three minutes left in the game when sophomore midfielder Madi Goss sent the ball towards the middle of the field before finding junior midfielder Wimberley Wright who knocked it in for the game leading goal and put Texas State up at 2-1.

Texas State returns home Thursday night to battle the South Alabama Jaguars in a heated showdown.

Both the Bobcats and Jaguars are both on top in the division standings with one point separating the teams.

Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. Thursday at the Bobcat Soccer Complex.