St. Edward’s honored its seven seniors on the field before the match, but had to shake off the emotions of the pregame festivities to face the Lady Chaps, who took control of ball possession early on, creating three shots and a corner kick in the opening 11 minutes.
Midfielder Ella Spiller headed a corner kick inside the right post to put Lubbock Christian up 1-0 in the 26th minute.
The Hilltoppers would generate more possession and a spark from substitutions following the goal. St. Edward’s tied the game in the 39th minute from a free kick off the foot of freshman midfielder Annie Rocha.
Nearly 20 seconds later, LCU took the kickoff down the right sideline and Spiller crossed to an unmarked Emma White near the left post to head it in to regain the lead for Lubbock Christian.
“We talk about momentum in the game of soccer where one team seems to be in the ascendancy,” St. Edward’s head coach Nick Cowell said. “The tendency for humans is to switch off and relax. It’s disappointing because it’s not something that we don’t talk about.”
The Hilltoppers ended the second half strong with two shots and a corner kick but could not convert before halftime.
LCU added another goal from Bonnie Miller in the 56th minute to extend the Lady Chaps lead to 3-1.
At times in the second half, the Hilltoppers’ offense appeared out of sync — sending the ball up field with nobody there, but the leading goal scorer in the Lone Star Conference, Rocha, netted her sixth goal of the season to make the score 3-2.
“She is a true nine, she takes the ball and she shoots it,” midfielder Tristyn Cabello said. “I know that if I give the ball to Annie, she is going to shoot and she is a big contributor to this team.”
The Hilltoppers had an opportunity in the final minute to tie it up, but a long pass from Cabello rolled out of bounds in the box, and Lubbock Christian escaped with the victory.
The Hilltoppers fall to 2-4-2 on the season and 0-2-1 in LSC play following their 2-0 against Angelo State University. They will return to the pitch at home against Texas Woman’s University on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 1 p.m.
