El Pasoan leads UTEP to 1-0 victory over WKU
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) --The UTEP soccer program defeated Western Kentucky 1-0 Saturday night behind a goal from freshman Nicole Morales.
The Miners had seven shots on the night, led by Morales and Sheyliene Patolo with three apiece. Angelina Amparano started her second straight match in net, recording three saves and earning the shutout.
“We are showing attributes of a great team, even this late in the season. One of those things is for us to have trained so well all week at this time of the year,” Head Coach Gibbs Keeton said. “It’s important to us, and though we haven’t had the results before that, we have to continue to be together and it has to drive our team. I think our week of training really drove us to perform tonight.”
Both keepers were tested early in the match, with Amparano smothering a shot from Kayla Meyer in the fifth minute and WKU keeper Maddie Davis successfully stopping the first of Morales’s chances in the sixth. The UTEP defense then kicked into gear and cleared away two Lady Topper corners in the seventh and eighth minutes. An Olivia Roskos try in the 14th minute went wide to the right, and WKU defended well against two Miner corner kicks in the 17th and 25th.
UTEP found its game-winner in the 33rd minute when Morales stripped a WKU defender and buried her shot to the bottom right corner past a diving Davis. It was the first career collegiate goal for Morales.
Following the restart, the Lady Toppers turned up the heat, but the Miner defense held strong against three shots and a corner to stay up at the half.
The second half began as the first ended, with the teams trading corners in the 55th minute. Patolo then put everyone on notice with three dangerous chances missing by inches in the 58th, 63rd, and 73rd minutes. The Lady Toppers responded with shots of their own in the 69th and 74th minutes.
The Miners locked it down on defense late in the game, blocking back-to-back shots from the visitors in the 83rd minute. Morales had one more try on a breakaway in the 87th, but the effort missed wide. WKU had a last-ditch shot in the 89th sail out of bounds, and UTEP secured its first conference win of the season.
“It's our aspirations to use this game to have our first three points in conference and roll that into our first road win. This week of training will be important. How we travel will be important, and I think we’ll be locked in after having a good victory at University Field,” Keeton said.
The Miners will head back on the road Thursday (10/12) to take on Middle Tennessee before returning home again next Sunday when they welcome Liberty to the Sun City.
