CEDAR CITY, Utah - After falling behind 1-0 for the first time this season, the Southern Utah University women's soccer team came storming back, turning in a dominant second-half performance where they outshot UTRGV 8-4, with Junior forward Kate Schirmer finding the back of the net twice to give SUU a 2-1 victory.

The win represents just the fifth time in program history that the Thunderbirds have begun conference play with a 1-0 record.

"We made some adjustments at halftime, and our girls took it in and just went back to working hard," said SUU Head Coach Kai Edwards. "The second half was supreme. We had players who haven't played a ton that stepped onto the field, who changed and made the game. To win is hard, to win in conference play is harder, and to win after you were down a goal is very hard. To see the grit and passion of the team coming together is awesome."

Following nearly a two-week break from play, for the first time this season, the Thunderbirds got off to a slow start against the Vaqueros on Thursday afternoon.

The match was an absolute battle, as both squads played an extremely physical game throughout the contest. The T-Birds struggled to create quality offensive plays during the first period, only managing to record four total shots, just one of which was on goal.

UTRGV also had a difficult time creating offensive chances in the first period against a talented and physical SUU backline. 

In the 26th minute, the Vaqueros had a nice buildup, and Molly Reynosa put a dangerous cross into the middle of the SUU box. After a scramble for the ball ended up with an open net, Jeweleen Reuille was able to tap it in to give UTRGV a 1-0 lead. 

Neither team scored for the rest of the period, and strong chances were few and far between.

Southern Utah came out in the second half looking like a completely different team, as they greatly increased their intensity and immediately went on the attack. The T-Birds put significant pressure on the UTRGV backline and began to completely take over the game. 

In the 57th minute, SUU finally broke through, as Whitney Wangsgard took the ball deep into UTRGV territory and played a beautiful pass through the defense to Kate Schirmer. Schirmer ripped an incredible shot on her first touch that went past the Vaquero's goalkeeper and landed in the left side of the net, evening up the match at one goal apiece. 

Less than two minutes later, Southern Utah earned their eighth corner kick of the match. Hailey Hamataka put an exceptional cross into play that found Wangsgard's foot near the top of the box. She put a dangerous ball near the goalkeeper that Schirmer managed to get to and put in the back of the net, giving SUU their first lead of the contest.

The Southern Utah backline and midfielders took control of the game from there, limiting the Vaqueros on offense and owning the possession time, as the Thunderbirds went on to earn the impressive 2-1 victory. 

SUU improved to 6-1 on the season following the win, as they were able to bounce back from their first defeat of the year in their most recent match. 

Notable Stats

• After scoring two goals tonight, Kate Schirmer moved into a tie for the 5th most career goals in program history with 13.

• Whitney Wangsgard has tallied three assists in the past two games for SUU, tied for first on the team this season.

• Hailey Hamataka's assist was her third of the season, also putting her into a tie for most on the team.

• Southern Utah owned an impressive 61 percent of possession time throughout the match.

• SUU earned 11 corner kicks throughout the contest.

• With 10 regular season games still remaining on the schedule, Southern Utah's six wins this season already mark the most victories in a single season for the Thunderbirds since 2015.

Coach Edwards Postgame Interview

Up Next

Southern Utah will return to the pitch Sunday to take on Stephen F. Austin, as they will have the opportunity to become just the second team in program history to win their first two conference games. Kickoff is set for 12 PM MT. 

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