Women battle to 1-0 loss vs. Sam Houston St.

HUNTSVILLE, Tex. - The CSU-Pueblo women's soccer team fought hard but was ultimately left rueing missed opportunities against Division I Sam Houston State University on Friday night.  Despite creating an array of goal scoring opportunities, the women couldn't quite break through the Sam Houston defense and lost 1-0.

"We played really well," said Coach Dave Morris.  "We played tough against a good Division I team and we came up just short.  We created a lot of chances and that's good."  The Thunderwolves' record now stands at 1-1-1 on the young season.

Rikki Warmack (Jr., Pueblo, Colo.) almost put the Thunderwolves on top inside the first three minutes of the game.  She saw two efforts on goal blocked by the Sam Houston keeper before the ball fell to Gabby Gonzales (Fr., Centennial, Colo.) who also saw her shot turned away.  Morris said he felt that the sequence was perhaps the team's best chance in the entire game.  "Soccer's a cruel game sometimes," he said, in light of the Thunderwolves' numerous near misses.

The remainder of the first half saw Sam Houston win some balls in the air and stage a few counterattacking runs, but at halftime, the game was still scoreless.

Candice Duffy (Jr., Idaho Falls, Idaho) got everyone's hearts racing just after the restart when she put a ball into the side netting following a shot from the left side of goal.  Two minutes later, though, Sam Houston was able to squeeze a ball down the left side and through the CSU-Pueblo defense.  Just as three CSU-Pueblo players converged on the ball, Sam Houston poked it home.

The Thunderwolves did their best to find an equalizer, and Sarah Deziel (So., Eau Claire, Wis.) saw a shot from 18 yards out palmed over by the Sam Houston keeper.  After that, Melissa Christensen (Fr., Kenosha, Wis.) turned a bit of possession into a threatening run into the Sam Houston penalty area.

A trio of CSU-Pueblo corner kicks also posed somewhat of a threat to the Sam Houston defense in the closing stages of the game, but a goal was not in the cards.

Despite the result, the Thunderwolves have reason enough to take heart from their performance.  "It was a really good environment, and again, I think we played really well," noted Morris.  "We forced a D I team to play back on its heels for most of the game, and that's good."  Morris did say, though, that the team must re-focus for its game against St. Edward's (TX), calling it the weekend's "marquee match."

The St. Edward's Hilltoppers are a top-25 team in Division II and will pose a serious threat to the Thunderwolves on Sunday.  It will take a great effort to topple the Texas team, but the CSU-Pueblo women will look to maintain their focus and represent well.