Frogs Rally Past Texas State With Second Half Surge, 3-1

September 2, 2011

SAN MARCOS, Texas --The TCU women's soccer team rattled off three straight goals to earn its first come-from-behind victory of the season, taking down Texas State by the score of 3-1 Friday at the Bobcat Soccer Complex. With the win, the Horned Frogs improved to 2-2 on the year, while Texas State dropped to 2-2 overall.

"I thought our team played very well tonight," TCU head coach Dan Abdalla said. "It was nice to see us have different girls step up for us. We decided to come out and attack in the second half and I thought our team played with a lot of confidence and made their backline come out and defend us. We need to continue to play with that kind of confidence as we prepare to host a tough team in Missouri on Sunday. We need to continue to handle the ball and make teams come out and defend us."

TCU came on strong in the second half, outshooting the Bobcats, 9-5, in the second frame. TSU edged the Frogs overall in shots for the match, 12-11. Senior Kaylie Garcia enjoyed an outstanding performance in her second game back from the World University Games, contributing a goal, an assist and pacing the Purple and White with three shots on goal.

"Kaylie played well for us," Abdalla said. "She stepped up as a senior and as an international player tonight. It was really good to see her in her first full-time game for us after playing a few minutes last week against Rice. She made a huge impact on tonight's game."

Texas State started the night on fire, lining up the first two shots of the night on goal inside the opening 5:35 of the match. TCU's first scoring chance came at the 10:50 mark off of the forehead of junior Monica Alvarado, but her attempt was saved.

As both teams began to settle into the action, the Bobcats were the first to light up the scoreboard as Kelsey Bernard sent a loose ball into the top of the net to give Texas State the early 1-0 advantage in the 14th minute.

Just before the end of the opening period, TCU took advantage of their second scoring opportunity as junior Elise Kensinger landed a header into the Bobcats' goal off of a corner kick from freshman Natalie Werner. The goal was the first of the season for the Colorado Springs, Colo., product, tying the match in the 44th minute.

After the 15-minute intermission, the Frogs didn't waste time getting the ball into TSU territory. After a shot from senior Alex Mechalske was blocked by a Bobcat defender, junior Becca Rowland sent the deflected ball into the box to set-up Garcia's first goal of 2011, sending it into the left corner of the goal. The eventual game-winner gave TCU a 2-1 lead at the 51:15 mark.

TCU kept firing, peppering seven-straight shots around the TSU net. As the Bobcats began to gain consciousness, Garcia intercepted a pass to lead senior Kristen Halverson on a breakaway. The Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., native handled the rest, scoring her first goal of the season to put TCU up 3-1 at the 68:50 mark.

The Horned Frogs were able to stand their ground on defense, limiting the Bobcats to only six shots-on-goal on 12 shot attempts. Freshman Alicen Wright, who entered Friday's match as the top goalkeeper in the Mountain Wet Conference in terms of saves (25) and save percentage (.926), was solid between the pipes, picking up her second win of the season. The Frogs have yet to give up more than one goal in a game this season.

TCU will now come home to Fort Worth to host Missouri Sunday at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. The match will be the 100th game played in stadium history.    

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