The WKU soccer team traveled to Texas this past weekend to face University of Texas at El Paso on Friday and University of Texas at San Antonio on Sunday.

WKU came back with a draw and a win, keeping a solid run alive that includes just one loss in its last nine contests. 

WKU 1-1 UTEP

 WKU played a familiar game of double over time Friday against UTEP, marking the fourth overtime game for WKU on the season.

The first goal of the game came from UTEP senior forward Angela Cutaia in the 26th minute. Lady Topper sophomore keeper Allison Leone initially deflected a shot out of bounds, setting UTEP up for a corner that Cutaia would net for her ninth goal in 2015. 

WKU freshman Megan Morris netted her first goal of her career just 34 seconds into the second half to tie the game from nearly 20 yards out.

“Iris (Dunn) played the ball back to me and I was just focusing really hard on scoring the goal because we were down 1-0 and I wanted to get the tying goal for my team,” Morris said.

In Friday’s game, WKU secured a record breaking 27 shots with nine shots on goal, and also broke the season record for corner kicks in a single game with 10. 

“We played well and got a tie and we kind of felt like we did our job,” Head Coach Jason Neidell said. “I think the players felt really good about their performance and I was really proud of them.”

WKU 1-0 UTSA

 WKU traveled to San Antonio on Sunday to take on UTSA and came away with a clean sheet and its second league win of the season.

“We didn’t play our best soccer on Sunday, but we found a way to win,” Neidell said. “This team just keeps finding ways to make things happen and get things done. It was great to find a way to win in a difficult environment.” 

Again WKU scored a goal in the first minute of the second half when junior midfielder Haley Bladridge served up her first assist of the season to sophomore double-threat defender and forward Shayna Dheel—her first career goal. 

Leone recorded her fourth clean sheet of the season. 

The two goals by Morris and Dheel marked a possible shift from the heavy reliance on junior forward Iris Dunn and sophomore attacking midfielder Hannah Chua to net goals for the Lady Toppers.  

“We’re going to need to be more well rounded in our scoring. I think that now that we’re in the heart of conference play, everyone’s kind of gunning for Iris and Hannah, so we’re definitely going to need other players to step up and get it done,” Neidell said. “That’s kind of an added bonus to tell the other teams in the conference beware we’ve got other players than just Hannah and Iris.”