The Bearkat soccer team dropped two matches against McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin over the weekend, falling to 4-15-0 on the season. The Kats remained winless in 11 conference matches this season.
The Kats appeared to be within reach of their first-ever conference win on Friday against McNeese State. Adriana Harris scored SHSU’s lone goal in the 33rd minute, off an assist from Kim Brown. Goalkeeper Melissa Sauceda held the Cowgirls scoreless in the first half, and the Kats entered halftime with a one-goal lead.
The Cowgirls quickly tied the game less than two minutes into the second half with a goal from Ashley Viscariello. McNeese State added two more goals in the later minutes of the half, leaving the match with a 3-1 victory.
Sam Houston head coach Marcia Oliveira said that when the Cowgirls began pressuring her players in the second half, the Kats could not deal with the situation properly. “They came and high-pressured us, and we panicked,” Oliveira said. “We could not move the ball. We could not do anything, and it was one goal after another. It became very difficult for us to deal with the situation, not panic, and do the things we need to do.”
Oliveira said her players need to learn how to deal with high pressure situations like they faced against McNeese. The Kats have had to deal with intense pressure a few times this season, and the end result has usually not been in their favor. “Hopefully, we learned our lesson this time,” Oliveira said.
On Sunday, the Kats seemed to have learned to adjust to the pressure, at least temporarily, against SFA. The two teams played to a stalemate in the first half, with neither team managing to score a goal. The game’s first goal was scored off the foot of SFA’s Shahin Pabani in the 63rd minute of play.
The game remained close until the final seven minutes of the match, in which the Lady Jacks scored two goals to close the door on the Kats. “I need to give the credit to SFA,” Oliveira said. “They made it through, and we had a defensive lapse.”
Oliveira hopes her players will use the experience gained from the weekend’s matches to learn how to maintain their level of play in close games. “Looking at the situation like this,” Oliveira said, “we need to be able to become a little bit more mature, and pressure at the correct time to move the ball, and change the point of attack.”
The Kats have one more chance to break into the conference win column this Friday, as they close out their inaugural season at home against Texas State.