USD battles Texas heat, loses winning streak
The USD women’s soccer team traveled to Edinburg, Texas, over the weekend to compete in the UTRGV Invitational Tournament with high expectations. One week after chalking up its first wins, USD was looking to ride a wave of momentum.
Despite two close contests, the Coyotes fell 1-0 to Texas-Rio Grande Valley and 3-1 to Southern Utah.
Weather played a big factor in the tournament as the Coyotes had to deal with a three-hour lightning delay and heat.
“The trip was interesting in that there was a lot of things going on that was out of control with the weather,” USD head coach Mandy Green said. “It was good to see the girls stay focused, they were mentally tough and showed a lot of fight and toughness.”
Against Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, the Coyotes finished with three more shots than the Vaqueros, but were unable to find the back of the net. Sammie Villwock and Danielle Anderson led the way with four shots apiece.
The game went into overtime and UTRGV’s netted the only goal of the game in the eighth minute of the overtime period to end the game in favor of the Vaqueros 1-0. Defender Kasha Meyer was happy with the play against the Vaqueros, even though they lost the game.
“It was fun to be in a different environment,” Meyer said. “We played well and Saturday was one of our best games so far.”
The following day against Southern Utah was a different story, with SUU outshooting USD 19-8, to earn a 3-1 victory. Brenna Bills was able to score her first goal of the season for the Coyotes in the 12th minute to tie the game at 1-1. The Thunderbirds were able to score goals in the 28 and 30 minutes, giving themselves a big enough lead to win the game.
Despite going 0-2 in the tournament, Meyer was named to the all-tournament team.
“It felt good,” said Meyer on earning the award. “I have to give credit to the whole back line, they were busting their butts, and we all played well together.”
Green believes Meyer was deserving of the award.
“She played her best game on Saturday,” Green said. “The entire back line played well, Meyer was in the right place at the right time and was making good decisions.”
USD first-year forward, Sammie Villwock, was named Summit League Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 31- `Sept. 6. Villwock had her first three career goals in a hat-trick performance against Green Bay on Sept. 6, including the overtime winner.
“This is a thing that doesn’t happen often,” Green said. “(Villwock) is a smart player and uses her speed and soccer IQ to put herself in a good position to score.”
Green is looking for continued improvement as the season goes along and thinks the scoring will be there.
“We need to reward ourselves for the work and start scoring,” Green said. “Us not getting the ball in the back of the net has been unfortunate.”
Villwock feels confident in the team going forward.
“We travel to Idaho this weekend,” Villwock said. “That’s a game I definitely think we can win.”
This week the Coyotes will travel to Moscow, Idaho, to take on Idaho University on Friday before returning to Vermillion for a home contest against Northern Iowa on Sunday.
(Photo: Senior Cory Strang attacks the Green Bay University defense in a contest Aug. 27 at the ’Plex north of DakotaDome. The Coyotes fell twice over the weekend to Sourth Utah and UT-Rio Grande Valley. File Photo / The Volante)
