ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' women's soccer team beat Mary Hardin-Baylor, 1-0, to claim its second straight American Southwest Conference title and the 26
th ASC women's soccer championship overall.
The Cowgirls scored the only goal of the game in the 51
st minute.
Gabby Aviles found
Lexi Templin on the right side of the box and Templin and she hit a rifle shot that found the back corner of the net. It was the 16
th goal of the season for Templin.
"Lexi is a special player and she made a special play in the biggest game of the season thus far," said first-year head coach
Rusty Oglesby. "I am so proud of the resiliency of our team. They have had great focus all season and they came out and executed the game plan to perfection. I thought our back line was special today."
Each team had chances in the tightly-contested match. HSU had 16 shots in the game and Mary Hardin-Baylor recorded 15. HSU had a 7-5 advantage in shots on target and UMHB had a 5-4 lead on corner kicks.
Both goalkeepers were solid as
Jenna Russell recorded the shutout for the Cowgirls with five saves. Russell improved to 15-0-0 in goal and recorded her 12
th clean sheet of the season. Emma Edwards had six saves in the loss for UMHB.
This was the seventh meeting in the last eight years between the two teams in the ASC Championship game. HSU has won seven of those meetings. HSU has won 21 of the last 22 ASC titles.
HSU centerback
Kalea Willis was named the most valuable player in the tournament. Aviles, Templin and senior
Kaylee Maddox were also named to the all-tournament team.
The Cowgirls are now 17-1-2 overall and earned the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on NCAA.com at 1 p.m. on Monday. Mary Hardin-Baylor is now 13-4-2 and they will await word from the NCAA if their season continues.
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