Box Score MARSHALL, Texas – A late first half flurry that saw two goals in a span of 49 seconds literally moments before halftime would end up being the difference as the LeTourneau University women's soccer team fell to rival East Texas Baptist University 2-1 at Cornish Field in Marshall, Texas on Saturday, October 7th.

The loss sends the YellowJackets to an overall record of 6-4-2 overall and 2-3-1 overall in the American Southwest Conference while the Tigers picked up a key ASC win to improve to 8-4-1 overall and 3-2-1 in conference.

"Tonight we played really well, but had a few breakdowns towards the end of the first half that ended up being the difference" said head coach John Antonisse in a post-game interview. "We came out in the second half to try and win and showed a lot of heart, but ended up falling just short of completing the comeback." "If we keep playing like we did tonight, there are a lot of good things on the horizon for us."

LETU came out firing early in the match, putting the first four shots of the game up in the first 20 minutes while forcing three saves by ETBU keeper Clarie Montondon. Defense would then have to pick up for the YellowJackets as ETBU would earn five first half corner kicks to keep the pressure on LeTourneau and hold possession in the attacking third of the field.

East Texas Baptist would appear to catch the first big break of the game when a foul would be called in the box on LeTourneau in the 27th minute setting up a penalty kick for Hannah Murin, but the shot would sail wide right and the scored would remain tied at zero. LETU's last chance in the first half would come on a shot in the 42nd minute by Stephanie Sammon that would force another ETBU save, and then counter attack by the Tigers. Another foul on LeTourneau leading to a free kick from 40 yards out would be sent into the box by Kibriana Bonner and find the head of Ashleigh Rondon and then finished off into the back of the net to give ETBU a 1-0 lead just 1:02 before halftime.

A stunned YellowJacket squad would look to run out the remainder of the half and trail by just one at intermission, but the Tigers would take advantage of the little time remaining and end up scoring a second goal on a well-placed shot from outside the box that would beat LETU keeper Carrye Funk.

Regrouping during the break, LeTourneau would come out of the break and play as aggressively as they did in the first 45 minutes of play and look to catch a break and get back into the game. The break that the YellowJackets were looking for would come at the 76:50 mark as a corner kick would be awarded and taken by freshman Brittany Boyd. Boyd sent the ball into the box and would find the head of Jennifer Martin who managed to find the back of the net and cut the lead to 2-1 in favor of ETBU.

Having just under 13 minutes left in regulation to look for an equalizer, ETBU would go on the defensive and hold LETU without a shot down the stretch and hold on for victory.
The Tigers outshot the YellowJackets 12-8 in the game while LETU held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.

Martin, along with Tamara Martin and Cecilia Pichardo led LeTourneau individually with two shots apiece while Funk made two saves on 12 total shots faced.

The YellowJackets will continue a season-long four-game road swing on Thursday, October 12th with a trip to Clarksville, Arkansas to take on the University of Ozarks at 1 p.m.