Lady Rams Defeat St Thomas!
Friday Oct, 24 2014
HT LADY RAMS 2-1 ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY (RRAC)
This was an eagerly awaited match with two strong teams battling to make the RRAC Play-Offs this season.
It was the Lady Rams who took the early initiative by dominating the midfield and occupying the ST backline with the pressure from forwards Stephanie Sarceno and Kimberlin Palacios.
The opening goals came from a wonderful flighted ball over the top from captain and midfield player Katia Castellanos into the path of the on rushing Palacios. 1 on 1 with the ST GK Palacios made no mistake and slotted the ball home for 1-0.
Just 10 minutes later, HT still pressured and were looking for the second. It came when Cristina Montealvo whipped in a viscous corner kick for Castellanos to meet with a towering bullet header into the back of the net to make it 2-0 HT.
The next 20 minutes belonged to ST. They passed and possessed the ball, stretching the HT defense all over the field. A goal almost came from a header that rebounded off the cross bar. With just 1 minute left in the half, ST earned a penalty kick for a foul inside the box. They made no mistake and pulled the game back to 2-1 right on the half.
The second half saw a fantastic response from HT. Now playing with a midfield 5, the home team got to grips with the ST passing game and stifled their threat. The ever dangerous Palacios was always causing problems with her speed and work ethic up top.
A huge moment came when ST did get through with 10 minutes to go only for the HT GK Ambar Hernandez to rush out and make a vital 1v1 save at the feet of the ST forward. A match winning save!
Chances to make it 3 went begging, but the scoreline remained. This was an outstanding victory for HT. One which places them firmly in 2nd spot in the RRAC with 2 to play.
Next up is a non conference home game with the University of Houston-Victoria on Monday Oct 27th, 3pm kick-off @ Whitaker Fields #10. The girls then travel away to UT Brownsville on Thursday Oct 29th, then to OLLU on Saturday Nov 1st to complete their conference season.
Please come out and support the ladies!
