ABILENE, Texas – After playing their last two games at Citizens National Bank Soccer Field, The Lady Jackets were back on the road today to face off against McMurry.  
Howard Payne came out in the first half looking poised and focused to get the win.

Behind some terrific team play, the Jackets were able to get things started early and pulled away with the 2-1 victory. It was their first ASC win on the season and snapping their recent losing skid. 

Candace Stark took a free kick after a pnealty in the 12th minute and placed it deep into the back of the net to record her first goal of the season and put the Jackets up 1-0 early. The Lady Jackets kept the pressure on the War Hawks in the first half with Darbi Frazier and Rachel Crane each taking a shot. 

McMurry would attempt to even up the score, striking two shots on goal in the waning minutes of the first half. But Nicole Goodwin was able to deflect both shots to maintain the 1-0 lead.  

The War Hawks came out of halftime intent to chip away at the lead and they were able to sneak a goal past Goodwin in the 46th minute. The goal tied things up at 1-1 but the Lady Jackets were not content with a tie. 

Howard Payne stayed aggressive and forced another shot shortly after McMurry put their first goal up on the board. This time the kick went to Darbi Frazier who took the ball from Rachel Crane and snuck it past the goal keeper in the 46th minute to give the Jackets the 2-1 lead. 

The second goal proved to be too much and Howard Payne held on to get the win. Taylor Bicknell, Dayane Gutierrez and Rachel Crane continued to attack the goal late in the game to keep McMurry on their toes. 

Nicole Goodwin played a complete 90 minute game, holding the War Hawks to just one goal while facing 12 shots, nine of them on goal. Candace Stark also played a full 90 minutes while recording her first goal of the season.  

In total, the Lady Jackets took 14 shots, two of them on goal and used five corner kicks to help get themselves into scoring position. Despite the War Hawks recording nine shots on goal, Nicole Goodwin was able to deflect eight of them giving Howard Payne the opportunity to come home with the victory. 

The Jackets will now face Hardin-Simmons University in another road contest. The game is slated for a 2:00 pm start on October 1st. Fans can watch the live feed on https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hsu/ and follow along on Twitter @HPUWSoc