The Cougars would find an early opportunity in the 50th minute after Addie Tate’s header was saved by Anna Rexford to keep this contest at 1-0 in favor of the Bearcats. The Cougars would respond with a great look as Anna Reysa would sneak by her defender and would fire a shot one on one with goalkeeper Anna Rexford, where Rexford would record a huge save, her third of the night to keep this one scoreless once again as Houston was starting to push the ball up the pitch here to start the second half as they were looking to find some momentum here in the second half. The Bearcats would see a great opportunity to extend their lead after an Ashley Barron header would result in another corner kick after Haley Woodward made another great save yet again, her fifth of the night, as the redshirt freshman continued to impress between the posts, as the Bearcats offense certainly made it difficult the freshman here tonight.
The Bearcats would strike in the 81st minutes after Sarah Kate Rath would find Maddie Swingle in the box for her first assist of the season, as Swingle would chip one over Haley Woodward’s head that would find the back of the net to give the Bearcats a 2-0 lead as they looked to close the door on the Cougars as they looked to remain undefeated at Gettler Stadium. The freshman continued to impress here tonight as Smith, and Swingle scored both goals for the Bearcats through the first 82 minutes and have impacted this match in many ways.
The Bearcats would hold on to win 2-0 as they now remain undefeated at Gettler Stadium as they improve to 6-0-2 heading into the team’s final AAC match up this Sunday vs USF. Anna Rexford would record six saves including a huge save in the 54th minute that was a statement save in this match as the Cougars were looking to push the tempo, but Rexford held her ground in between the posts for the Bearcats as she recorded her first shutout since September 11th in the teams 3-0 victory over the Eagles.
“It’s good to get a shutout again, I thought Anna was a real coming presence tonight as there were times, we gave a ball away cheaply. I thought we created our own issues at times when we lost momentum. I felt like Anna was the release valve, she calmed us down a little bit, broke up a play, and really helped with distribution. Anna keeps getting better and better, our goalkeeper coach Jake is doing a fantastic job with her and Payton Hasse. The work they are putting in during training, you can see that everyone is getting better in that position. I am very proud of Anna,” said Stafford.
The Bearcats were lead by freshman Megan Smith and Maddie Swingle who both contributed goals in the teams 2-0 victory over Houston tonight, as Smith continues to make a statement for Freshman of the Year within the AAC as she recorded her fourth goal of the season tonight. Maddie Swingle would record her second goal of the season after connecting off the assist from freshman Sarah Kate Rath. The freshman stepped up tremendously for the Bearcats tonight in such a huge match as they look to seal a spot in the AAC Conference tournament moving forward.
“I think it says volume about who they are as players, but the characters they showed this season it hasn’t always gone smoothly as we are in mid-October now and they are playing some of their best soccer and that is on top of academics and everything else that comes with being a freshman, to see that performance tonight from those three in particular (Rath, Smith, and Swingle) I think our whole entire program grows in confidence. They were absolute standouts tonight,” said Bearcats head coach Neil Stafford.
The Bearcats now improve to 6-2-6 on the season after a dominating performance her tonight at Gettler Stadium. “I thought we played well for a great chunk of the game but full credit to Houston as that is a good team, they made life difficult at times, but I really thought we showed our class tonight,” said Stafford on the teams 2-0 victory.
The Bearcats will look to secure their spot in the AAC Conference tournament this Sunday at 1 pm when they welcome in USF to Gettler Stadium with a chance to lock up a trip to the conference tournament along with a chance to finish the season unbeaten at home for the first time in nearly 20 seasons.
