Crusaders Dominant in Opening Day Win vs LeTourneau

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas women's soccer team won their season opener against LeTourneau University 3-1 on Thursday evening.

The Crusaders were spectacular for much of the proceedings on Thursday.  In the opening minutes, the Yellow Jackets held the ball a bit more, but Dallas was far and away the more threating side.  Their efforts bore fruit after 26 minutes when Nevaeh Coronado opened the scoring; some excellent build up culminated with a low cross into the box my Alyssa Mencacci, with Coronado able to tap it into the goal after the keeper failed to handle the ball.  Dallas remained on the front foot for much of the first half, but would have to settle for just a one goal lead going into halftime.

Dallas let their foot off the gas a bit going into the second half, and the Yellow Jackets were able to level things in the 61st minute up after some shambolic play out of the back by the Crusaders.  

Izzy Barajas provided the spark the Crusaders needed with an early candidate for goal of the season.  Off a perfectly executed throw in routine, Barajas drilled Claire Reed's perfectly weighted ball first time from outside the box into the top right corner, giving Dallas the 2-1 lead.  Andrea Coppi put the icing on the cake in the 90th minunte, scoring a brilliant goal herself.  On a shoulder-height cross by Britney Zapata, Coppi expertly brought the ball down with her right and touched past her defender in one move, and placed the ball in the bottom right corner with her left to make it a 3-1 win for Dallas.

Up Next

The Crusaders are back in action next Wednesday against UTD.  they will face the Comests on the road, with kick-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m.