CANYON– The Texas A&M University-Commerce soccer team suffered a 2-1 defeat to West Texas A&M on Thursday night. After tying the match with 14 minutes left, the Lions allowed a goal in the 88th minute. 

The loss brings the Lions to 4-3-1 on the season, and 1-2-0 in the Lone Star Conference. The Lady Buffs improve to 3-3-0 on the year and 2-0-0 in conference play. 

The Lions return to action on Saturday against Eastern New Mexico. The match will be played at Noon MDT at Greyhound Stadium in Portales N.M.

HEAD COACH NEIL PIPER AFTER THE MATCH
On falling behind in the first half: "We played really hard in the first half and I felt like we deserved to be in the lead. So when WT scored off a corner right before half that was really disheartening."
On the team's resolve to begin the half: "WT was all over us in the first 10 minutes of the second half and we were fortunate not to give up a goal.
On the team's counter late in the second half: "We switched formations and we got back into the game a little.  Naomi scored a pure hustle goal to equalize and I thought we were going to win.  We missed several good chances in the last 10 minutes of the game. To WT's credit, they hit us on a counter and scored a nice goal.
On rebounding with another match on Saturday: "We have to build from this performance and get ready to eastern New Mexico on Saturday."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Naomi Sink (Plano – East Senior) scored the Lions goal in the 74th minute, the first goal of her collegiate career. She had two shots on goal in the match.
- Leslie Campuzano (Garland – Lake Centennial) led the team with three shots on goal in the match. Katie Givens (Rockwall) had two shots on goal.
- Jen Peters (Allen) made four saves in the match.
- Shots were nearly even in the match, with WT holding a slight 18-16 advantage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams felt each other out in the first minutes of the game. The Lions were the first team to put a shot on goal, as Givens had her shot saved in the 11th minute. 

The Lion defense held off the WT attack early before the Lady Buffs put a couple of shots on goal in the 27th minute, both of which were saved by Peters. Campuzano put a shot on goal in the 35th minute that was saved as A&M-Commerce continued to apply pressure.
 
The Lady Buffs scored on a corner kick in the 40th minute to take the lead in the match. Campuzano and Givens both had late shots on goal in the half but WT took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

WT began the second half with aggression taking multiple shots in the first 10 minutes while holding the Lions without a shot. The Lions then broke through in the 74th minute. Sink stole the ball from WT deep in the goal box. After firing one shot that was blocked by the keeper, Sink kept with the ball and got the rebound, firing it into the back of the net to tie the game.

The Lions had several more opportunities to take the lead, including a shot on goal by Campuzano in the 86th minute. However, it was the Lady Buffs who would net the dagger, putting the ball in the net in the 88th minute to seal the win for WT.