ODESSA, Texas (September 25, 2024) –
Cassandra Ramirez's goal in the 27th minute staked the Falcons to a 1-0 lead, and then the Dustdevils responded to tie the match just over four minutes later. The two teams battled back-and-forth for the remaining 59 minutes as The University of Texas Permian Basin women's soccer team and Texas A&M International University remained deadlocked and finished with a 1-1 tie on Thursday night at the UTPB Soccer Field. It was Ramirez's third goal in the last four matches.
UTPB (2-1-2 overall, 0-0-1 Lone Star Conference) is now 0-4-4 in its last eight meetings against TAMIU (1-2-3, 0-1-1) dating back to 2018. In addition, it was the first goal for the Falcons against the Dustdevils in Head Coach
Carla Tejas's tenure leading the team.
UTPB had five ties in conference action in 2023.
UTPB, which came into the match on Thursday ranked No. 5 in shots on goal per match (10.5) and No. 14 in shots per match (19.5) in NCAA Division II, outshot TAMIU 7-2 in the first half and 10-4 in the second (17-6 overall). The Falcons also led 9-3 in shots on goal.
Sophie Dionissiou and
Laura Perez both led the Falcons with five shot attempts.
After TAMIU evened the match, Perez nearly put the Falcons back in front with a shot off the crossbar in the 36th minute.
TAMIU goalkeeper Hannah Harris made four saves in each half to keep the Falcons from being able to take the victory.
Valeria Delgado made two saves for the Falcons.
The goal from TAMIU came on a putback from Loren Perez Barrera, and she nearly gave the Dustdevils a late lead with a shot in the 87th minute that was just saved by the quick reflexes of Delgado.
The final shot of the night was a laser off the foot of Dionissiou that was saved by Harris in the final minute.
Coach Tejas said, "I am absolutely proud of each woman on my team. In my three seasons at UTPB, this has been one of our best matches. The scoreboard doesn't reflect the match we had, and we have to deal with that and move on. We are now thinking about Oklahoma."
Next up, the Falcons will travel to face Oklahoma Christian University at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 28.
