ODESSA, Texas — A penalty kick in the 67th minute for the St. Mary's University Women's Soccer team was the lone goal on Thursday night in Odessa, giving the Rattlers a 1-0 win over UT Permian Basin in the final regular season game of the year.
Junior defender
Valerie Hover (McKinney, Texas) became the first Rattler other than
Shelby Paniagua (Cibolo, Texas) to attempt a PK, nailing the shot into the left corner of the goal to give StMU the much-needed win. The shot improves the Rattlers to 6-for-6 on penalty kicks this season.
It is the first goal of the season for Hover and the third of her career. The Rattlers also take over the nation's lead in most made penalty kicks as they entered the night tied with Franklin Pierce at 5-for-5.
The victory improves St. Mary's to 9-6-3 overall and 7-4-2 in Lone Star Conference play, while the Falcons end the 2024 campaign 4-10-3 overall and 2-9-2 in league action.
The windy conditions limited shots, as the Falcons took nine and the Rattlers only seven in the game. Senior goalkeeper
Rebecca Difronzo (Bari, Italy) stopped all three shots on goal.
The Rattlers are winners of three of their final four games in the regular season and now must wait until Friday evening to find out seeding for the Lone Star Conference Tournament as the Midwestern State at West Texas A&M game was postponed until 3 p.m. in Canyon. If MSU gets a decision at WT, the Rattlers will drop to the fifth seed; however, if the Mustangs tie or lose, StMU will be the fourth seed and will host a quarterfinal.
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