SOC: Calhoun Leads TCU To 1-0 Victory With Milestone Score

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Sept. 18, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas - Senior Jordan Calhoun led the TCU soccer program to a 1-0 victory against Northwestern State Sunday in front of 1,209 fans at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. The Horned Frogs improved to 5-4 overall with the nationally-televised win on The Mtn -MountainWest Sports Network.

Calhoun, a native of Norman, Okla., unleashed the game-winning goal from the top-right side of the box, rolling past the Lady Demons' goalkeeper into the lower left corner in the 70th minute. The score was the third of the season for the senior, all serving as game-winners in 1-0 matches. Calhoun's previous goals came in the Frogs' 1-0 shutouts over Toledo and Hofstra at the Red Raider Classic. Senior Kaylie Garcia claimed her second assist of 2011 on the score.

With the goal, Calhoun also notched her 76th career point, surpassing former Frog Sarah Campbell for the program's all-time points leader. Campbell tallied 75 points for the Purple and White from 1986-89. Calhoun is also TCU's all-time leading scorer with 32 career goals.

"Every time Jordan gets the ball, she has the ability to be dangerous," TCU head coach Dan Abdalla said. "That is the nice thing about having her, because she can get you the goal you need to win. With the chances that she was getting today, we knew it was just a matter of time before she was going to get one in. I'm happy for her, because she has worked really hard and made a huge impact on our program. We just need her to keep doing it."

Overall, the Frogs dominated possession and the flow of the match, outshooting NSU, 28-7. The 28 attempts are the most by TCU this season and the highest single-game total since taking 28 strikes against Houston Baptist in 2010. Calhoun led the attack with five attempts, while redshirt freshman Brooke Kviz followed with four shots. Senior Alex Mechaske and newcomer Natalie Werner each registered three shots apiece. The Frogs also racked up a season-high 10 corner kicks.

TCU enjoyed its fourth shutout of the 2011 season Sunday, as freshman goalkeeper Alicen Wright registered a pair of saves. Three of the Frogs' last four matches have ended in 1-0 blankings. The four shutout wins is the most for TCU since 2008.

The Frogs had several scoring opportunities early in the match, forcing NSU to make four saves in the opening period. Freshman Tori Hale appeared to have scored her first career goal and given TCU a 1-0 advantage on a cross from Calhoun in the 34th minute, but the goal was waved off by an offsides call.

Mechalske also had a chance to give her team a 1-0 lead on a nice cross from redshirt freshman Becca Rowland in the first half, finding the NSU goalkeeper on the ground and the ball at her feet with an open net, but the senior blasted her attempt just over the crossbar.

In the second half, the Frogs continued to pressure the NSU defense. Kviz had a solid header attempt fly over the crossbar on a free kick from senior Katie Taylor, while Werner got a good left leg on a cross from Hale that hit the side of the net.

Hale had a second chance to collect her first goal of the season with less than 10 minutes left to play, but the Abilene, Texas, product put her shot between the numbers of the NSU goalkeeper.

"Sunday games are always about taking care of the things that we can control such as our communication on the field and the energy level that we bring," Abdalla said. "Our goal was to come out and immediately set the tone of the game. Going into the second half, we didn't change much, because we were creating scoring chances. It was more about the persistence and sharpening some things up."

TCU will now prepare to host Northern Arizona Friday at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. The match will be on national television by The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network and is set to begin at 7 p.m. The Mtn. is available nationwide on DIRECTV, channel 616.