AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward's women's soccer spent much of Saturday night finding ways into dangerous spaces. SIERRA PADILLA finally turned one of those openings into the breakthrough, scoring in the 83rd minute to deliver a 1-0 victory over Texas A&M International at Lewis-Chen Family Field.
TESS DABNEY supplied the decisive pass, sending a long pass over the top to Padilla just outside the box for a spectacular top shelf goal to secure three valuable Lone Star Conference points.
St. Edward's improved to 4-7-4 overall and 4-4-3 in conference play, bringing its conference total to 15 points.
The match remained scoreless for more than 82 minutes, but the wait for a goal hardly lacked excitement. The Hilltoppers found success switching the point of attack with long diagonal passes to MACY JENNINGS down the right side, giving her room to run at the defense and stretch the Dustdevils across the field.
Jennings recorded three shots, including an attempt wide of the right post shortly after entering in the first half. TRULY CUEVAS supplied another flash of creativity, slipping the ball between a defender's legs in a one-on-one matchup in space before sending her shot wide.
St. Edward's held a 6-1 shot advantage at halftime, though the Hilltoppers had yet to put an attempt on frame.
That changed as the pressure mounted after the break. St. Edward's earned three corner kicks in the opening eight minutes of the second half and continued creating opportunities through different players.
MADISON CRESWELL forced saves in the 67th and 70th minutes, followed by JORJA BRAGG in the 72nd. CLAIRE SMITH had an attempt blocked, and DAYLAN NATES sent one high before testing goalkeeper Maria Melendez in the 79th minute.
Dabney and Padilla finally found the opening that made the difference. Dabney's service gave Padilla space to attack behind the defense, turning the closing minutes into a race the Hilltopper midfielder won.
Behind that sustained pressure, St. Edward's limited TAMIU to two shots. DARIA SCHLUMBOHM saved the Dustdevils' only attempt on goal just over a minute into the match, and the Hilltoppers did not allow another shot until blocking an attempt in the 76th minute foir a fourth consecutive clean sheet.
St. Edward's finished with a 15-2 advantage in shots, a 5-1 edge in shots on goal and eight corner kicks, all in the second half. Padilla led the Hilltoppers with four shots, while Creswell and Jennings added three apiece.
