By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

At practice, head coach Curtis Lewis teaches The Master’s University women’s soccer team to shoot low and across frame. His thinking is that it optimizes the odds of a rebound if the goalie can’t control the shot.

Still, Lewis didn’t scold Sierra Carrasco on Monday for shooting a high line drive from outside the 18-yard box. The shot bounced off the far post and into the net midway through the second half, lifting Master’s to a 1-0 win over Warner University in Lake Wales, Fla., and saving the Mustangs from wasting a smothering defensive performance.

Master’s outshot Warner 20-1.

“We’ll give it to her,” Lewis teased, referring to Carrasco’s second collegiate goal. “She laced it with power and it went across frame. She’s been working a ton on her shooting. We were really proud that she was the first girl this season to give us a goal.”

The win changed the feel of a trip that got off to an uneven start.

The No. 17 Mustangs (1-1) dropped their first game in Florida to No. 6 Southeastern University on Saturday despite manufacturing a number of opportunities.

Two days later, Master’s broke through, and Carrasco believes it was a momentum builder.

“I feel like once we have one goal go in, we just knock them in,” she said.

With the way Master’s played defense Monday, it needed just the one goal. The Mustangs held the Royals without a shot in the first half, and the home team’s lone attempt after the break wasn’t on goal.

However, the score remained tied until the 67th minute, when Carrasco won a 50-50 ball in TMU’s attacking third, took a few touches and launched a shot from 22 yards out. The ball careened off the post and in.

It was a near perfect start to the season for Carrasco, who missed most of 2017 with an injury. She said she entered this fall just hoping to contribute.

“I just want to be a playmaker for the team,” she said.

So far so good.

The Mustangs will play No. 12 Keiser University on Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla.