Texas State Bobcats Fall In Penalty Kicks To Little Rock

Martin made five stops between the posts to record her ninth shutout of the season to set a new Bobcat record. She finished the season with a 0.45 GAA, the lowest in program history and third best in Sun Belt history.

FOLEY, Ala. – The magical season came to an end Sunday afternoon at the Foley Sports Complex for the Texas State soccer team. After playing to a 0-0 draw after 110 minutes, the match was decided in penalty kicks with Little Rock winning 6-5.

The Bobcats ended their season with an 11-5-4 record and unbeaten in their last 13 matches while the Trojans are now 13-4-4 and receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

LR had an early opportunity halfway through the fourth minute. Arola Aparicio Gili flicked a shot high that went just over the crossbar.

About 45 seconds later, Kaylee Davis got behind the defense and sent a low shot to the back post. The goalkeeper got her fingers on it to deflect it just enough that it hit off the left post and bounded straight back to the keeper.

A long distance attempt from Jaclyn Purvine saw Heather Martin have to parry the ball away from danger to keep the match scoreless.

Late in the 26^th minute, Ally Kewish attempted a shot from inside the box. However, the ball hit off a Trojan and was cleared away.

TXST had its first two shots on goal come late in the 67^th minute. Genesis Turman headed a ball towards goal that was knocked off the line by a defender. A few seconds later, Turman headed the loose ball again at from but saw it get knocked away by a defender again.

A late look from Davis came after Haley Groff drove to the end line and passed out to the junior forward. Her rip beat the keeper but went just past the outside of the right post.

The best chance for the Bobcats in overtime came from Jordan Kondikoff. She ripped a shot from just outside the 18-yard box. However, her curling attempt was straight at the keeper.

In the penalty kick shootout, the first two players for each team converted their try. Heather Martin came up with a stop on the Trojans third attempt, however, a miss hit by Texas State kept it tied 2-2.

Both teams would make their next three attempts from the spot before Martin came up big with another stop on the seventh kick taker. A miss however by a TXST kicker kept the shootout going. LR converted its eighth try to take a 6-5 advantage. The final attempt by the Bobcats sailed over the bar to give the Trojans the title.

Making the Sun Belt All-Tournament team for Texas State was Davis, Kondikoff, Martin and Turman. They are the first honorees for TXST to make the all-tournament team since Lynsey Curry in 2014.

Kelly Barbalias, Ally Kewish and Davis all took a match-high three shots. Both Kondikoff and Turman attempted two apiece with both of Turman’s attempts being on frame.

Martin made five stops between the posts to record her ninth shutout of the season to set a new Bobcat record. She finished the season with a 0.45 GAA, the lowest in program history and third best in Sun Belt history. The junior also set a new program record with a .919 save percentage and recorded the fifth most saves ever with 91.

Davis concluded her junior season matching the school record for both goals (18) and shots on goal (40). Her 86 shot attempts ranked as the second most in a season.

For the latest information on the Texas State soccer team, visit the official website of Texas State Athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, like on Facebook at Texas State Soccer and follow on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateSoccer.

Goals2Cure: https://pledgeit.org/goals2cure2018

Box Score: https://txstatebobcats.com/boxscore.aspx?id=5741&path=wsoc