Box Score TEXARKANA, TX---It was a long and grueling 84 minutes of defense, but the Lady Mustangs are the 2019 RRAC Tournament Champions. USW defeated Our Lady of the Lake 1-0 on Saturday night. USW got an early goal from 1st Team All-Conference selection Kimberly Nevarez in the 6th minute, and it was all the Lady Mustangs needed to secure the title.

"Once that clock hit zero, the tears started flowing." said Head Coach D'Angelo Garcia "I'm not an emotional person, but it just shows how much this team deserved this title. This team has gone through so much this season. We lost the regular season title on the last game of the year. We came from behind in yesterday's semi-final. It has been a grind. OLLU is a very talented team. We beat them in the regular season, but the tournament is a whole different game. They played very well tonight. At the end of the day, there is only one team that is happy and we are blessed to be holding the trophy tonight." 

Kimberly Nevarez scored in the 6th minute via a thru-ball off the foot of Adrianna Guzman. "She sent me the through ball, and I know I'm faster than the defenders, so I used my speed to finish and put it in the back of the net. An early goal gave us a lot of confidence and we started playing as a team early in the game." said Nevarez. 

Despite an early goal, the Mustangs offense was unable to muster up anymore chances following a 30-minute delay due to an OLLU injury. USW was unable to get anything going for the final 60 minutes of the game, but relied on their defense which has been their backbone the last few weeks of season. 

The Mustangs postseason run could not have happened without their standout freshman goalkeeper and Hobbs native Andrea Martinez. Martinez allowed only 1 goal in all three games of the tournament and came up big when it mattered most with crucial saves in tonight's match. "Bringing back a championship to my home town is such a great feeling. We deserved this title. We worked really hard to accomplish our goals. I'm so proud of my team. It's a surreal feeling and I am just so happy". 

The Lady Mustangs will be heading back to Hobbs with a tournament trophy and will await their spot in the NAIA Regionals. The NAIA will be hosting a selection show on November 18th via Facebook Live. USW will be planning a watch party on campus, as well as live streaming the event. Links will be posted.