Box score

HOUSTON, TX—Houston Baptist sophomore Amina Radoncic converted a turnover into an unassisted goal in the 18th minute for the only scoring of the afternoon as her Huskies edged visiting NJIT 1-0 in Great West Conference women's soccer Saturday.
 
The game was the regular season finale for both teams, with Houston Baptist finishing the day with a 9-8-1 overall record, including 4-1-1 in the Great West. The Huskies won their last three games, all home conference contests. NJIT wrapped up the regular season with a 1-5 record in the Great West and 2-16 overall.
 
HBU outshot the Highlanders 21-2 overall and 7-0 in shots on goal. Saturday's clean sheet was the third of the year for the Huskies and the first alone for sophomore Patty Walrath, who didn't need a save for her first shutout. She had been between the posts for the last three HBU games.
 
NJIT used two goalkeepers. Sophomore Anna Kornmuller started and played the first half, allowing the one goal and making one save. Freshman Amanda Murray played the second half and stopped four shots without yielding a goal. The Highlanders were also credited with a team save.
 
“It wasn't a good first half for us,” said NJIT coach Sergio Gonzalez. “In the second half, we started to battle, but we didn't string together passes and the final ball wasn't there.”
 
The only goal came when NJIT lost the ball deep in its own territory and Radoncic was the first to recover it, shooting the ball past Kornmuller at 17:29.
 
The Highlanders' best chance actually came before the goal, when Amanda Redden's shot in the 14th minute hit the crossbar.
 
Both teams will continue play in the postseason Great West Conference tournament, which will be hosted by NJIT on November 4, 5, and 7. The number one seed in the seven-team tournament will receive a bye on the first day, Friday. NJIT, which will be seeded seventh, will take on the number two team, which is to be determined, on Friday.
 
Houston Baptist finished 4-1-1, while Utah Valley (4-1) and South Carolina State (3-1-1) were slated to play Saturday night in Utah, with that result clearing up the top three seeds. HBU will be the number two seed, and NJIT's opening-round foe, unless South Carolina State defeats Utah Valley, in which case the Huskies will be number one.
 
“I'm excited by the challenge,” said Gonzalez, whose team has 1-0 away losses to HBU and South Carolina State and held a 1-0 halftime lead on Utah Valley before losing, 4-1. “We've seen all the teams and we're better than the results we've been getting. We have to worry about ourselves and if we play the way we're capable of playing, I'm confident we can have a successful tournament.”