Late goal leads to Zias-Lions draw

The women's soccer team suffered a frustrating afternoon in a 1-1 draw with Eastern New Mexico State on Sunday.

The Zias came from a goal down to ensure the spoils were shared on the afternoon, despite A&M-Commerce taking the lead through freshman Stephanie Neeley's first ever collegiate goal early in the second half.

In the 89^th minute, Angela Sandoval caught up with a through ball behind the Lions defense and fired low to the left-side of the net for a dramatic equalizer.

"We responded," Eastern New Mexico Head Coach Todd Padgett said. "Very very physical side in Commerce; they took it to us in the first half, they took it to us in the first 70 minutes, and to be fair we didn't respond until late. We got a grip on the game eventually. We started to do what we like to do as far as keeping the ball; but [A&M-Commerce] are a very physical team, they are a very good team and they are a well coached team. To be perfectly honest, were very fortunate to get out of this game with a one-one draw."

Neeley was a halftime substitution making her first appearance in a collegiate match. Her goal in the 57^th minute came from a free kick by fellow freshman Samantha Houston. Houston drove the ball low into the box, getting it past the defensive line and leaving Neeley with a difficult finish past the diving goalkeeper Sierra Cardenas.

"It feels awesome," Neeley said about scoring on her debut. "I was very out of shape, so I don't think I did my team justice, but I'm going to work on that this week."

As the match went on, tiredness was a visible hindrance to the Lions' performance. Head Coach Neil Piper said fatigue had a definite effect on his team, which currently has a short bench due to injuries.

"It had a major impact, they were dead out there," Piper said about his team. "But, there's nothing we can do about it. We've just got to play through it right now, until we get some more players back. I think that had an impact, but just lack of discipline at the end of the game cost us two points."

The first half was almost completely one sided, with the Lions leading in shots 13-2 at halftime. The best chances of the half went to sophomore Brionna Minde and freshman Cadie Annet. After scoring from a wide angle against West Texas A&M in the previous match, Minde nearly did it again as her cross from the left required Eastern New Mexico goalkeeper Sierra Cardenas to make a flying save.

Annet's effort went even closer. The freshman found herself with the ball in space at the top of the penalty box and sent in a curling shot that cannoned off the cross-bar. The follow-up shot from freshman Brittni Ong went high and wide.

Eastern New Mexico State's best chance of the half came from Paola Loya's trip into the Lions' box. Loya connected on a through ball and got behind the defense, but senior goalkeeper Randi Hafele closed down the attacker quickly and took the ball right off Loya's feet.

While Piper said it was painful to see his team give up a goal so late, he did give credit to the opposition for their effort throughout the entire match.

"They played well," he said. "It's always hard to throw away two points at the end. I just couldn't see them scoring against us today, and we pretty much gifted them a goal. It's disheartening that we gave away two points, but to be fair to them they worked hard the whole game, and they kept at it."