Playing their second matches in a 24-hour period – and in triple-digit heat indices on both days – Angelina College’s soccer teams showed no signs of fatigue in earning a pair of wins on Sunday.
The Roadrunner women got a late second-half goal from Bety Hernandez to secure a 2-1 win over Northeast Community College of Nebraska, and the men got four goals from four different players in shutting out the Hawks 4-0 at Jase Magers Field in Lufkin.
AC’s women trailed 1-0 in the first half, despite numerous near misses, until Morgan Winthrop fought her way to Daisy de Boer’s free kick in the box and headed home the equalizer. The Roadrunner women stiffened on defense, with keeper Eva Phillips making several saves along with defender Savannah Keziah, keeping the match equal until Hernandez chased down de Boer’s deflected corner kick and put the ball high in the net for the eventual game winner.
The Roadrunner men shook off the frustration of Saturday’s loss, a match in which AC strikers were confounded with balls banging off the uprights and crossbars. On Sunday, the ‘Runners used precise passing to set up all four goals: Matheu Gayle opened the scoring with a powerful drive off a feed from teammate Mohammed Aljaif just eight minutes into the match. Taurayi Tugwete got an assist from Alex Rubio in the 31st minute to give AC a 2-0 lead at the half.
The Roadrunners kept up the pressure in the second half. Aljaif took a perfect cross from Scott Gray to knock home his team’s third goal, and Bryan Nunez capped the scoring on a long goal off a free kick in the 87th minute.
AC keeper Shane Wallace and the Roadrunners’ back line helped keep the Hawks scoreless for the full 90 minutes.
Both will take a few needed days off before resuming conference play on Friday in a doubleheader at Jacksonville College. The Roadrunner women (2-1, 1-0) kick off at 5 p.m., and the men (1-2, 0-1) follow at 7 p.m.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
