SEGUIN, Texas -- The late-game dramatics strike again, as the Texas Lutheran women's soccer team pulled out a gritty 1-0 upset victory over No. 14 Cal Lutheran on Sunday at Gustafson Field.
With the result, the Bulldogs (4-0) secured the first ranked win in program history under head coach
Kerwin Johnson, who tied Tony Tommasi (2001-05) for fourth all-time in program wins on Sunday with his 49th victory as leader of the TLU women's soccer program. The win was historic in more ways than one as the 4-0 start is the best in program history. The win is also their second straight win over a 2025 NCAA Tournament qualifying program with the Regals, the 2023 national champions, making it to the Sweet Sixteen last season.
Madison Herrera (San Antonio/Madison) delivered the decisive strike in the 71st minute, playing a cross from
Makenzie Ivie (Portland/Gregory-Portland) and tapping it past the diving Regals keeper. The goal was Herrera's first of the season while Ivie tallied her third assist of the season in four matches.
Alysa Marquez (Miami, FL/Dr. Michael Krop) was a star on Sunday, recording seven incredible saves to keep TLU in the game and help lead the Bulldogs to the statement win.
Even with Cal Lutheran outshooting the Bulldogs 24-10 and recording eight shots on goal, the Bulldogs were able to fight and stay resilient, striking when the moment was right and coming out of the match victorious.
Cal Lutheran held most of the momentum and was left knocking on the doorstep as the two teams headed into the locker room, outshooting TLU 8-3 in the first half.
Coming out of the break, the two teams remained gridlocked at 0-0. CLU rattled off seven shots throughout the first 20 minutes of the second stanza, keeping TLU on its toes and forcing them to play defense for most of the second half.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, the tide started to turn as TLU started to build up possession and gain some momentum with each passing minute. In the 71st minute, the scoresheet finally saw a change.
With the momentum shift secured, TLU settled into true form and kept the Regals from chances on goal to a minimum; only two of their final eight shots came on frame as TLU came out on top as the clock struck zero.
Up next, Texas Lutheran hosts East Texas Baptist on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6 PM. The match will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links will be available on
tlubulldogs.com.
For all updates on Texas Lutheran Women's Soccer, follow @tluwsoc on X (Twitter) and Instagram and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on
tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on X (Twitter), @tlu_athletics on Instagram, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).
