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CANYON, Texas (Nov. 6) – Ashton Morris scored two goals and Central Oklahoma dominated from the outset to overwhelm Abilene Christian 3-1 here Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Women's Soccer Championship.
The fourth-seeded Bronchos avenged a 1-0 regular-season loss to the No. 5 Wildcats and improved to 13-5-3 in advancing to Friday's semifinals against tournament host and top-seeded West Texas A&M.
No. 3 Midwestern State routed sixth-seeded Northeastern State 4-0 in Thursday's other first-round game to set up the two semifinal meetings. MSU will take on No. 2 Texas A&M-Commerce at 12 p.m., with UCO and the Lady Buffs playing at 2:30 p.m.
Friday's winners meet for the tournament title at 12 p.m. Sunday, with the champion earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II national tournament.
UCO outshot the Wildcats 27-8 in the contest, including 15-1 in the first half, but didn't take the lead until Morris scored 10 minutes into the second half.
The sophomore knocked in her second goal in the 68th minute and Katelyn Cropp answered ACU's lone goal with a score in the 75th minute for the Bronchos, who are looking for their fifth LSC tournament title.
“We came out aggressive and did a great job of keeping the pressure on them,” UCO coach Mike Cook said. “We had a lot of chances in the first half and didn't take advantage, but we kept at it and finally got the ball in the net.
“It's a good win and now we've got to get ready for a tough West Texas team.”
Morris broke the scoreless deadlock in the 55th minute when she knocked in a shot from 10 yards out off a pass from Katy Kashwer and that twosome hooked up again minutes later, with Morris scoring from the left side for her 12th goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.
The Wildcats got within 2-1 on a shot from 25 feet away, but UCO came right back 90 seconds later when Cropp scored from close range on an assist by Stephanie Lovely.
Josie Baker went the distance in goal for the Bronchos, who also got fine defensive efforts from Alli Miller, Kelsey Springstead and McKenzie Caldwell.
