Dowd Goal Rallies St. Mary´s Past Texas-Permian Basin, 3-2, in Women´s Soccer

SAN ANTONIO—Kelly Dowd headed in Brin Davis’ corner kick with nine minutes left in the game, lifting St. Mary’s University to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Heartland Conference women’s soccer action Thursday afternoon at St. Mary’s University Soccer Field.

The goal by Dowd (Sr., Plano) capped a wild comeback from a 2-0 deficit to give the Rattlers their third win of the season. UTPB took the early lead when Kaylen Gerkey scored just 1:13 into the contest. Tiffany Barrera made it 2-0 in the 20th minute. That was where things would stay through the end of the first half. St. Mary’s were dominated in the first half, but that turned around quickly in the second period.

After keeping the ball in UTPB territory the majority of the first 10 minutes, the Rattlers finally got the payoff when Leia Kirch (Fr., Carrollton) was tripped in the penalty area, giving the Rattlers a penalty kick. Mia Ravitz (Jr., Kiryat Bialik, Israel) converted the kick for her second goal in as many games, cutting the deficit to 2-1. That was where things would stay for the next 14 minutes until Emilie Snelson (So., Fairview) one-touched a cross from Melinda Gentry (Jr., Plano), tying the game at 2-2.

That set up Dowd’s heroics. Davis sent a perfect corner kick sailing into the penalty area, just outside the goal box, where Dowd was waiting. She headed the ball into the back of the net directly off the kick, giving the Rattlers a 3-2 lead. Mari Edwards (Fr., Apex, N.C.) had a strong game in goal, bouncing back from the two early scores, making six saves.

With the win, the Rattlers improved to 3-9-1 overall this season and 3-3-0 in Heartland Conference play. The Falcons fell to 3-9-1 and 1-5-1 with the loss. St. Mary’s will return to action on Saturday when they host Dallas Baptist University at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s University Soccer Field.

 UTPBWS09 (3-9-1, 1-5-1) vs. St. Mary's (Texas) (3-9-1, 3-3-0)
 Date: Oct 15, 2009  Attendance: 125
 Weather: Clear and Hot, 90s
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 UTPBWS09............  2  0 -  2
 St. Mary's (Texas)..  0  3 -  3
 
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.   1:13 UTPBWS09 Kaylen Gerkey (3) (unassisted) - Rebound punched in from 10 yards out
  2.  19:37 UTPBWS09 Tiffany Barrera (2) (Kaylen Gerkey) - Cross to the middle, touched in from just in front
  3.  57:38 STMU Michal Ravitz (2) Penalty kick
  4.  71:28 STMU Emilie Snelson (3) (Melinda Gentry) - Cross one-touched into the upper left
  5.  80:52 STMU Kelly Dowd (1) (Brin Davis) - Corner kick headed on the fly into the net
 Shots: UTPBWS09 10, St. Mary's (Texas) 13
 Saves: UTPBWS09 4 (Victoria Ramirez 4), St. Mary's (Texas) 6 (Mari Edwards 6)