Tarleton State defeats Utah Tech, earns first conference win

STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State Women’s Soccer pulled out a big win on Sunday afternoon, defeating Utah Tech 4-3 and earning their first WAC conference win of the season. 

Tarleton State welcomed local youth soccer teams to Sunday’s match in celebration of Youth Soccer Day and traded in their purple and white for pink jerseys to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

The Texans (7-5-2 overall, 1-3 WAC) scored on three headers in their win over the Trailblazers (5-4-3 overall, 1-1-1 WAC). Gabrielle Williams played a big part in the matchup, scoring two of the four goals for TSU, and Sam Liaty recorded two corner kick assists. Mikayla Kendall played another full 90 minutes and recorded five saves for the afternoon. 

Starting the match off early, Zoe Ballard scored her first goal of the season and the first goal for the Texans in Sunday’s match. Reegan Wagg initiated the goal with a shot from left midfield. Bouncing off the right-side post, Ballard headed the ball right back, which bounced again off the crossbar and into the goal. 

Sophomore Adelaide Wyrzynski headed a second ball into the net with the help of Ballard and Liaty late in the first half. From the left side of the field, Liaty sent a corner kick across to Ballard. Ballard headed the ball to Wyrzynski, who headed it right past the Utah Tech goalie. 

The Trailblazers backed up each goal with their own, tying the score 2-2 at the half. 

Williams was a standout in the match, scoring two goals in the second half to secure the win for Tarleton State. In the 59th minute of play, Stevie Reynolds sent a cross to Williams who fired it into the net. Then in the 78th minute, Liaty sent another corner kick across, setting up the goal-scoring header for Williams. 

The Trailblazers scored a final goal in the 80th minute to end the match. However, it was not enough as the Texans ultimately took the victory, 4-3. 

The Trailblazers slightly outshot the Texans 12-10 and recorded two more shots on goal. Tarleton State accounted for nine of the 12 corner kicks in the match, with eight coming in the first half. 

Tarleton State will remain home next week, taking on Abilene Christian for Military Appreciation night. The game will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday evening at the Tarleton State Soccer Complex.