Box Score
NEWARK, NJ– Taylor Gibson had a goal and an assist, leading Houston Baptist to a 2-0 victory over the NJIT women's soccer team Saturday night in a Great West Conference contest at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
The victory enabled Houston Baptist to improve to 8-5-3 overall and 2-0 in the Great West. NJIT fell to 3-11-3 overall and 1-2 in the GWC.
The Huskies wasted little time in taking control of the match.
In just the fourth minute, Arielle Rodriguez sent a crossing pass into the box, which set off a bit of a scramble. Gibson emerged from the pack of three players and fired a right-footed shot into the lower left corner of the net from four yards out that gave Houston Baptist a 1-0 lead. It was Gibson's seventh goal of the season.
“We allowed them to get deep in the box,” NJIT women's soccer head coach Sergio Gonzalez said. “If our defenders are on top of our goalkeeper, that's not a good way to play. We hurt ourselves there.”
The Huskies had three other solid chances to score in the first half. In the 11th minute, Cindy Hedden fired a shot that traveled wide left of the goal. In the 21st minute, Molly Missimer took a shot that traveled over the crossbar and in the 25th minute, Natalie Hager's shot was blocked in front by the NJIT defensive backline.
“I think we defended extremely well,” Gonzalez said. “We can't fault our backline. They all played well.”
The Highlanders' lone shot came in the 39th minute, when junior forward
Amanda Redden's shot from 28 yards out sailed away from Houston Baptist goalie Shelby Horn and bounced off the crossbar.
“That's why she's in the game, because she can make plays from back there,” Gonzalez said. “When you have that kind of service towards the goal, it's a good play.”
Redden's shot was the lone shot on goal for either team other than Gibson's goal.
Houston Baptist controlled possession for most of the first half, with NJIT getting past midfield only a handful of possessions. The Huskies utilized their speed and quickness to maintain ball possession throughout most of the first 45 minutes.
The Huskies then pushed the lead to 2-0 in the early stages of the second half, again off a mad scramble, again with Gibson in the middle of the action.
In the 54th minute, Hedden took a cross and headed it toward the goal, where NJIT freshman goalkeeper
Samantha Bersett got her right hand on. But the Huskies remained with the play and Gibson touched it in front to defender Martin, who somehow managed to get it into the goal for her first goal of the season.
“Again that was a set piece,” Gonzalez said. “We made two mistakes on the set pieces. Other than that, we were right there. That's what it is.”
In the 61st minute, freshman midfielder
Madeline Griep had a direct free kick from 25 yards out that sailed over the crossbar.
The Huskies had two good chances within a two-minute span, but Bersett came up big both times. Hager hit a chip shot from just inside the box that Bersett snared and Emily Hughes had a shot from 18 yards out that Bersett caught, keeping the HBU lead to two goals.
In the 66th minute, Redden had another chance for the Highlanders, but her shot sailed wide left of the goal.
The Highlanders had their best chances to score in the span of a minute. In the 78th minute, sophomore forward
Rebecca Tustin fired a shot from 22 yards out that bounced once and was smothered by Horn. Less than a minute later, Redden fired a right-footed shot from the right wing that Horn caught.
“In the second half, we did things a little better,” Gonzalez said. “We were just missing. We got the ball behind their defense. We had much more tenacity and created chances.”
Gonzalez was encouraged by his team's play.
“We had some chances late,” Gonzalez said. “We made the mistakes and that's something we can't allow to have happen again. We'll probably see them again (at the Great West Conference Tournament at Utah Valley Nov. 2 through Nov. 5) so we have to be ready. I think we've put ourselves in position to have good matchups in the tournament. A lot of teams still have to play each other yet. I think we'll be fine. We just have to learn some lessons the hard way.”
Write-up courtesy James Hague
