UTB-TSC Capsules: Northwood shuts down Scorpions to wins RRAC regular-season title
CEDAR HILL - Northwood University ended its stingy defense against Red River Athletic Conference teams with its ninth straight shutout, 1-0 over the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, and clinched the regular season title.
Northwood will the No. 1 seed in the RRAC women's soccer tournament to be played at UTB-TSC next week. The Knights finish the RRAC regular season with a 9-0 record and are 13-3-1 for the year.
UTB-TSC (12-3-2) had its seven-game winning streak snapped. The Scorpions had gone 10-0-1 during their last 11 games. Their last loss was Sept. 16 against Incarnate Word.
Something positive did come out of Saturday for the Scorpions. UTB-TSC finished 7-1-1 in conference play and alone in second place. Our Lady of the Lake, which was 6-1-1 going into Saturday, tied LSU-Shreveport 0-0 and finished the year 6-1-2.
The Scorpions will get the No. 2 seed for the RRAC Tournament and start play in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5.
"It was a really disappointing loss," Scorpions coach Nik Barjaktarevic said. "We worked really hard all season and even in this game. We possessed the ball well and created opportunities, but obviously lacked the goal."
"In the end, it's all about using the opportunities you have, and we created enough to get on the scoreboard. We lacked that final touch to win this game."
UTB-TSC fought Northwood to the final buzzer, and had a 16-10 advantage in shots. The Scorpions also had a 10-6 advantage on shots on goal.
But the Lady Knights punched home the only goal of the game with 38:15 left on a goal by Kristin Laborde with an assist by Natalie Carter.
"Give them quite a bit (of) credit, Northwood is a good organized team and played aggressive," Barjaktarevic said. "We're moving forward now. We think we play we can play with any team in the conference. Hopefully we do see them in the tournament down the road."
The regular-season title was the second straight for Northwood. In the 2009 tournament, Northwood was upset in the semifinals and UTB-TSC won the tournament championship.
Women's Soccer
Scorpions complete unbeaten run through RRAC men's soccer season
CEDAR HILL -- For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College finished an unbeaten run through the Red River Athletic Conference.
The Scorpions blanked Northwood 2-0 in the regular-season finale to finish the RRAC standings with a perfect 9-0 record.
UTB-TSC won its 11th straight game and enters the postseason with a 13-3-1 record. The Scorpions will be the No. 1 seed for the RRAC Tournament to be held Thursday through Saturday at REK Center Field.
The Scorpions are now 39-0 against RRAC opponents in conference, non-conference and postseason games since UTB-TSC started its soccer program in 2007. They will be looking for their fourth straight tournament championship.
"The guys played well, and we were cruising most of the way," Scorpions coach Dan Balaguero said. "We're happy that we were injury-free today, and we got a lot of good contributions from a lot of players."
UTB-TSC scored late in the first half with 1:43 left until halftime when Mario Perez scored with assists by Omar Apodaca and Padraic Ormsby.
Just into the second half with 41:25 remaining, Juan Nava scored on a penalty kick to make it 2-0.
For Nava, the goal was his 15th of the season, tying a school record held by Fernando Mendoza in the 2008 season. It also marked the eighth straight game that Nava had scored a goal, tying the school record held by teammate Aaron Guerrero in 2009.
The Scorpions outshot the Saints 23-13 and had a 14-4 advantage on shots on goal. Goalkeeper Juan Gamboa played all 90 minutes and had four saves.
"It's been a good regular season run," Balaguero said. "We hope that now we can continue this in the tournament. We know that it's going to be a much harder game on Friday."
UTB-TSC plays its first tournament game at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, against the winner of a Thursday elimination game yet to be determined.
