AUSTIN, Texas – The Regis University women's soccer team completed its road trip and non-conference schedule with a thrilling 1-0 victory against St. Edward's at Lewis-Chen Family Field on Sunday in its final tuneup prior to this season's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.

"It was huge," said coach J.B. Belzer. "It's been since 2005 that we took six points on a Texas roadtrip and that sets us up very well regionally as we move forward into RMAC play."
 
How It Happened: In a race against the clock, senior midfielder Tori Rinsem was on the right side of the field upon receiving a pass from junior forward Carly Bych and a touch from senior midfielder Emily Ramos.
 
Rinsem, with possession of the ball, kicked a low-crossing shot into the back of the net to end the shutout while giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead with just 26 seconds left in regulation. In addition, junior goalkeeper Julia Coombs was credited with her first shutout of the season when the horn rang.

"I can't understate the quality of the goal," Belzer said. "It was a counter-press with Emily Ramos picking up the ball, dribble penetrating then slotting Carly Bych in, and Carly clipped the ball, second post, to Tori who had pulled off the shoulder and finished very delicately. And so, it was a great goal to win it and about 2 minutes earlier, Julia Coombs had made a brilliant save into the crossbar, and we caught up in fortune with St. Ed's putting the rebound over the top of the goal.

"But that's how soccer goes some times. You capitalize on your chances, and you win games, and if you don't, you don't win games. We've been on the other side of it before. It feels good to be on the right side of it in this situation."
 
This was all preceded by a large portion of the second half in which St. Edward's clearly showed it was the dominant force on offense as the Hilltoppers recorded the closing half's first five shots in an almost 10-minute stretch.
 
The Rangers and Hilltoppers engaged in a scoreless tug of war during the first half where both teams had runs of consecutive shot attempts without reaping any benefits.
 
Junior forward Natasha Wehner first attempted a shot for Regis in the seventh minute, but it was saved by Hilltoppers redshirt junior goalkeeper Annabel Sweeney. 
 
The offensive-minded RU had several opportunities during a nearly 15-minute stretch, getting the ball deep in SEU territory. However, the Rangers were called offside four times in that span.
 
Rinsem shot a pair of potential goals during the closing five minutes of the opening frame, going wide in the 42nd minute before shooting on-target in the 45th.
 
For the game, Regis was outshot, 17-9, but only had one less shot-on-goal to SEU, 5-4.
 
Game Notes: Rinsem (1 G, 4 S, 3 SOG) had the game-winning goal with just 26 seconds left to go in regulation. Bych (1 A, 1 S, 1 SOG) and Ramos (1 A) were both credited in the double-assist to Rinsem's goal. Wehner (1 S, 1 SOG) made her one shot interesting as it was on-target. Coombs (4 SV) recorded her first shutout of the season.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers climb to 2-1-1 in their overall record and begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Friday at 1 p.m., hosting Adams State (2-1) at Regis Match Pitch.

"Adams is an improved side," Belzer said. "[It has a] new coach. They had a great result regionally against West Texas [A&M], who was a [NCAA] quarterfinal tournament team last year. [It went] on the road, beat West Texas, and so, it will be a game on the margin, and we are going to have to perform at our capacities to carry the day and find victory."

Belzer also talked about Regis' upcoming matchup against Fort Lewis on Sunday.

"Fort Lewis is always a bogey side for us," Belzer said. "We struggle to break them down, and they have very good coaching and competent players. So, I think both games are going to be entertaining matches and both games, again on the margin, when we play to our capabilities, we should create enough chances to win games. We just have to execute and capitalize."