By MATT DEARMAN

mwd004@latech.edu

 

Tech’s soccer team dropped its fifth consecutive match with a 4-0 loss to the University of Nevada on Oct. 23 in Reno.

The Techsters fell to 7-8 on the year, 0-5 in the Western Athletic Conference, following the loss; while the Lady Wolf Pack improved to 10-5-1, 4-1 in the WAC.

“We’ve had a tough time in conference,” head coach Jen Soileau said, “but we are continually getting better. Our team is young, but they are learning a lot.”

The score stayed even at zero early in the match, until Nevada’s Jessica Thompson broke the tie by finding the net with just 46 seconds to play in the first half to give the Lady Wolf Pack a one-goal advantage at the midway point.

In the second half, Thompson again found pay dirt with an unassisted goal in the 59th minute to put Nevada on top, 2-0.

Lauren Kinneman and Naomi Hernandez also recorded goals in the 65th and 86th minutes, respectively, to close out the scoring on the day.

Freshman goal keeper Chrissy Haisler played a solid game in the box for Tech with 12 saves, but could not make up for the Techsters struggle to produce offensively, recording just one shot to Nevada’s 26 in the game.

Tech has been outscored 16-0 in its five conference matches so far this season.

Prior to the game with Nevada, Tech soccer traveled to Fresno, Calif. on Oct. 21, where they fell to the Fresno State Lady Bulldogs 3-0.

“We played well against Fresno in the first half,” Soileau said. “We were on their end of the field more, but we were unable to get shots off.”

Fresno (6-8-2, 3-1-1 WAC) opened the scoring in the match with Tech when Courtney Sobrero eluded the Techster defense and found the goal in the 16th minute.

The Lady Bulldogs would connect with two more goals from Kortney Lewis in the second half to clinch the match.

Tech’s offensive woes continued against the Lady Bulldogs, with just two shots taken.

The defensive effort showed signs of improvement, however, allowing just 18 shots on goal compared to the 103 allowed in the previous three matches.

Tech will close out the soccer season this week on a two-game road trip to Idaho, where they face conference foes the University of Idaho on Oct. 28 and Boise State two days later.