With the way both teams were playing defensively, it was going to take a perfect kick to determine a winner.
Navarro’s Shantell Thompson was the one who executed that one perfect boot.
Thompson’s goal in the 84th minute broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Lady Bulldogs to a 1-0 win over Angelina College’s Lady Roadrunners Saturday night at Jase Magers Field in Lufkin. The match was also the final home and regular-season game for the Lady ‘Runners.
AC’s loss means the Lady ‘Runners will enter the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed; AC will travel to Tyler on Wednesday to face the No. 3 Lady Apaches in the tournament semifinals.
In a match appearing destined for overtime, both the Lady Roadrunners and Lady Bulldogs put on a physical, defensive clinic. AC keeper Kelly Copeland finished with 13 saves, while the back line consisting primarily of Lauren Voss, Alexis Barrientez and Alizah Mendoza repelled numerous Navarro attacks against a Lady Bulldog team averaging more than five goals per game. Voss managed to clear several Lady Bulldog attempts from the box over the match’s 90 minutes; and Ashley Felan and Carley Thompson prevented the Lady Bulldogs from spreading their attacks in their usual efforts to create space.
But with just six minutes to play, Navarro’s Thompson unleashed an absolutely perfect shot from the left side, finding the net in the top right corner – just out of Copeland’s reach – for the game’s only goal.
Kickoff time for Wednesday’s match at Tyler College will be announced later.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
