LUBBOCK, Texas (November 6, 2021) – It was a back-and-forth game with plenty of offensive chances for both teams, but St. Mary's eventually came out on top against Lubbock Christian University 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at the LCU Soccer & Track Complex.
 
It was a breakaway from Juni Ejere that finally won the game for the Rattlers in the 85^th minute, as she was able to out-run a final LCU defender and just push the ball past LCU goalkeeper Hannah Wise. The Lady Chaps press hard in the final five minutes and change, taking five minutes and putting one on goal, but they could not find the back of the net for an equalizer.
 
Makenna Pate's final header on goal with just nine seconds left in the game was the 17^th shot on goal between the two teams, with 10 coming from StMU and seven from LCU. The Lady Chaps actually had more total shots in the loss, with 18 compared to 15 for the Rattlers.
 
The offense started just 28 seconds into the match with a great chance from St. Mary's that was just pushed wide by Wise. Then in the eighth minute, Ejere had another shot that nearly scored, but it clipped the right post, allowing Wise to grab it before it crossed the goal line.
 
Playing in the final game of an illustrious Lubbock Christian career, Wise made eight saves. She had 61 saves and a save percentage of .836 for the season. She ends her career with 260 saves, well ahead of any other goalkeeper in Lady Chap history.
 
Lubbock Christian's first shot on goal came five minutes later from Pate, and they had two more before the buzzer sounded for halftime with the teams still tied at zero.
 
St. Mary's came out on the attack again to start the second half, but Wise was again there to save both of their early chances. LCU countered and got a shot on goal from Arely Jimenze just outside the 18-yard box, but it was right at the Rattler keeper.
 
LCU's best chance to take the lead came in the 73^rd minute, when a breakaway gave them a numbers advantage in their offensive third. The pass went to the middle to Brittany Jones who fired from just inside the box and would have given the Lady Chaps the lead but an StMU defender blocked the ball on the goal line. Maddi Fuller followed with another shot, but it missed out left.
 
Fuller had another shot in the 83^rd minute and it was on goal this time, but saved by St. Mary's, just before they scored the eventual game-winner.
 
Lubbock Christian ends the season 8-7-2 overall, finishing with a winning record for the ninth time in 10 seasons under head coach Alex Denning and the 10^th time in the 12 seasons in program history. The Lady Chaps allowed an average of just 1.00 goals per game with six shutouts on the year while scoring an average of 1.12 goals per game themselves.