Homecoming week always ends with a football game, right? It’s basically a rule in Texas. Texas A&M University-Texarkana does things a little differently, closing out the spirit week with fútbol (soccer) games.
TAMUT’s soccer teams are in the thick of their season. With only a few conference games left, every match is extremely important. Both men’s and women’s teams have had their ups and downs throughout the beginning of the school year. It has become a tradition on TAMUT’s campus to host homecoming soccer games to engage students and boost school spirit around the beginning of October.
Homecoming week is usually filled with fun student activities and dress up spirit days while the soccer teams train to battle it out on their home field in front of their biggest crowd of the season. This year’s homecoming was exciting and one to remember on and off the field.
The outcome of every game has become crucial for the TAMUT soccer teams as the Red River Athletic Conference tournament approaches. Teams must rank in the top six of their conferences to make it into postseason play. It’s every team’s dream to win the conference tournament, take home a ring, and continue on to nationals. Both teams stepped onto the field ready to fight for a homecoming win against Louisiana State University-Shreveport and the fans were given two very intense matches.
Photo by Suzanna Summerlin
The women’s game was back and forth. TAMUT’s Alex Martinez sent in a cross in front of the goal and one of the LSUS defenders accidentally scored an own goal, giving TAMUT the lead. The rest of the game was intense as fouls became more frequent. Martinez accumulated two yellow cards, which forced her off the field so TAMUT played one member down for the remaining 30 minutes of the game. LSUS took advantage and scored a goal in the last few minutes of the game, sending the match into “golden goal”: first team to score wins. LSUS had a hand ball right on the 18-yard box, giving TAMUT a free kick right in front of their goal. TAMUT stormed the field after Emily Juarez scored off the free kick– bringing the final score to 2-1.
Photo by Amanda Johnson Vaughan
It is tradition to introduce homecoming court between the men’s and women’s games and announce the homecoming king and queen winners. School organizations such as Campus Rec and the Path Program submit nominees, who are voted on by the student body to narrow down to the final five of homecoming court. Ellie Kemins and Zak McCarthy, king and queen last year, escorted TAMUT’s president Dr. Emily Cutrer to the middle of the field to crown the 2019 winners. After a drumroll from the crowd, Philip Derouen and Sharnell James were named homecoming king and queen.
The men’s game began quickly after the homecoming announcement. The game started off intense. LSUS scored in the first ten minutes but TAMUT’s Yassin Ghasemi tied it before halftime by scoring off a penalty kick. LSUS fought back with another goal at the beginning of the second half, but Ghasemi tied it up again to keep it interesting at 2-2. The game got rowdy as players and fans almost broke out into a fight after LSUS scored a third goal. Play continued after the referees calmed everything down and LSUS went on to win 4-2.
Photo by Amanda Johnson Vaughan
It was an eventful week on TAMUT’s campus as another homecoming is put in the books. Both teams played their hearts out for their student body and left it all on the field. The women’s team earned their first conference win, making their record 1-3, while handing LSUS their first conference loss. The men’s team has started to catch momentum and has a bright future ahead of them if they continue to play with such passion. Good luck to both teams as they finish out their seasons and to the student body as they buckle down for midterms.