The Horned Frogs (1-3-3 conf., 6-8-4 overall) notched a shutout over the San Diego State University Aztecs (2-3-2. 6-10-2) ending the season just short of a bid in the Mountain West Conference Championships.Placement in the championship tourney would have depended on TCU winning Saturday and the New Mexico University Lobos losing to the Air Force Falcons. New Mexico won 3-0 eliminating TCU from a postseason berth.
TCU scrapped to a 1-0 win Saturday on the shoulder’s of senior goalkeeper Katy Buchanan and her career high 10 saves.
During the match Buchanan was involved in some rough collisions in the 18-yard-box, but she held her ground and kept the Aztecs from getting on the board.
“It felt good to leave it all on the field and that I did everything I could,” Buchanan said.
The first 20 minutes of play Saturday were dominated by the Aztecs high speed offense led by freshman striker Jessica Gordon who tallied 5 shots on the day.
During the first half of play, Gordon tested Buchanan with a pair of shots at the 12 minute mark, but Buchanan denied her effort with two incredible saves made while diving around the 6-yard-box.
“I tell myself if I go 100 percent for all the 50/50 balls, I’ll come out on top,” Buchanan said.
With 20 minutes remaning in the first half, the Frogs seemed to breathe new life as they started putting together some offensive runs and took more control of the game. Though momentum had shifted towards TCU, the scoreboard remained 0-0 as the first half came to a close.
The second half featured a Horned Frog team that came out firing from the kickoff to the final whistle.
“All year we have stressed the urgency that every ball and play matters,” said Dan Abdalla, head coach, “They didn’t want to go out on a bad note.”
Just minutes into the second half, TCU took the lead on senior forward Casey Glass’s second goal of the season.
The play unfolded from senior defender Breanne Kaldheim’s free kick from about 60 yards out. Her kick rattled around in the 18 yard box and eventually ended in Glass’s possession. Glass took one shot from about 10 yards out that deflected off the crossbar and sent the ball bouncing openly in the 6-yard-box. Glass then rebounded her own shot and with a header into the right hand corner of the net.
“The goal got me really excited,” Glass said, “I knew as soon as we got that first goal, we would step up and keep going out hard.”
TCU had two other scoring opportunities in the second half that could not find the net. Both chances came
from a freshman forward Lizzy Karoly run towards the Aztec goal line. Karoly would then pass the ball the middle of the field, but to no avail as no other Horned Frogs were able to finish on her passes.
As the final whistle blew, the season came to a close, with TCU celebrating their 1-0 victory.
“I think this is the best we’ve played since my freshman year,” Glass said, “We have reached the best point of our game our senior year.”
Though the postseason tournament is out of reach for the Frogs, the team will be able to return all but 4 players from this year’s squad.
“We still have a lot of room to grow,” Buchanan said.
