ABILENE, Texas- The Howard Payne University women's soccer (5-5, 1-2) lost to McMurry University (4-3, 1-2) in heartbreaking fashion at the Wilford Moore stadium Thursday afternoon by a score of 0-1. The War Hawks scored what ultimately was the game-winning goal in the 88
th minute when Laila Brown was able to beat graduate goalkeeper
Landry Combs at her near post.
Combs had to be called into action early to make a save when McMurry fired their first shot on goal of the match through Natalee Shaw in the third minute. Senior forward
Alayna Lopez recorded Howard Payne's first shot of the match in the 14
th minute.
Combs was pivotal in keeping the score tied in the first half. McMurry was through on goal in the 35
th minute. Hayle Heinen couldn't convert the one-on-one chance opportunity because Combs was able to correctly guess where Heinen wanted to shoot the ball.
A few minutes later, the Lady Jackets offense started to pick up steam. Lopez started the momentum with a shot on goal in the 39
th minute. Senior defender
Madison Nance also got into the action with a shot of her own in the 40
th minute. Lopez then fired another shot on goal in the 43
rd minute.
Combs made a total of three saves in the first half. At the end of the half, despite both team's best efforts, the score remained tied.
Until their goal, the War Hawks had their best chance of the night in the 50
th minute. Combs made the initial save, and then on the resulting corner kick, Combs and the backline had to be forced into action because the ball was bobbing around the box before it was ultimately cleared by the Lady Jackets' defense.
The Lady Jackets were able to force Candence Foulkrod, the War Hawks goalkeeper, into making three saves. In the end, Howard Payne was outshot by McMurry 6-19, and the Lady Jackets made three shots on goal compared to the War Hawks 13.
Up Next: The Howard Payne University women's soccer team will continue their travels with another away ASC conference game against Hardin-Simmons University at the HSU Soccer Complex on Saturday, October 3 at 5:00 PM.
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