Battling Stephen F. Austin on Sunday afternoon, SUU soccer fell victim to a late goal to suffer a tough loss.
After taking down UTRGV in comeback fashion on Thursday, the T-birds looked on their way to a potential sweep of its Texas road trip early in Sunday’s match.
In just the second minute, Laney Kimble found the back of the net from an assist on a set piece by Kiki Stewart that put the visitors in front, 1-0.
Laney with the early statement 🗣
⚡️ 1
🪓 0 pic.twitter.com/oGgVE41Hnq— SUU Soccer (@SUUSoccer) October 8, 2023
The game was a battle throughout, but both sides were able to keep each other off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half.
As the second half got underway, the Lumberjacks turned up the pressure in an effort to find an equalizer on Senior Day.
SFA broke through in the 52nd minute, knotting the score at 1-1.
Much like the majority of the first period, the rest of the second half was a back-and-forth affair as the two sides traded scoring chances and solid defensive plays.
The match appeared headed for a draw, but a foul was whistled on SUU in the box, resulting in a free kick. Stephen F. Austin was able to sneak the ball past the wall of the defense, scoring the winner in the 90th minute and recording the 2-1 victory.
The game was evenly matched on the stat sheet, with the T-birds recording more shots (18-13) but both sides recording the same number of shots on target (7).
The loss drops SUU to 1-8-5 overall, including 1-3-1 in WAC action. With four games to play, the T-birds are two points out of the sixth and final WAC Tournament qualifying position.
SUU football notches comeback victory in conference road opener
Up next
SUU now returns home to Cedar City for a pair of matches next week.
First, the T-birds will take on Abilene Christian on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. before battling Tarleton State at noon on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Both matches can be seen on ESPN+.
