BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University women's soccer coach Orlando Cervantes may have found the perfect cure for his insomnia: a huge Southland Conference victory.

Cervantes is hoping Lamar's 2-0 win over visiting Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday will help get the sleep he's been missing since Friday's disappointing loss to Nicholls.

“I haven't slept well the last two nights,” Cervantes said after Sunday's victory. I think I am going to be able to sleep tonight, however.”

Lamar (4-7-1 overall, 2-2-1 Southland) got right back into the thick of the Southland Conference race with six games remaining.  With Sunday's win the Lady Cardinals moved into sole possession of the sixth, and final, berth for next month's Southland Conference Tournament at Lamar.

“One of the signs of a good team is how they respond after a bad game,” Cervantes said. “I thought we did a great job of bouncing back from Nicholls.”

Lamar goalkeeper Bailey Fontenot made 13 saves as she set a school record with her 13^th shutout, eclipsing the mark set by Jennifer Gibbs. Fontenot got all of the offensive support she would need thanks to a pair of first-half goals from Kimmy Albeno, who pushed her season total to seven.

“Bailey made some great saves today, but our defense did a good job of keeping a lot of their shots to the outside,” Cervantes said. “Paige Jorgensen and Alejandra Amador were tremendous.”

Albeno opened the scoring 13:17 into the game as she took a nifty pass from Taylor Mitchell and rocketed a shot past Southeastern Louisiana goalkeeper Casey Jeanfreau.

Albeno made it 2-0 when she scored on a penalty kick with 4:37 remaining in the opening half. Albeno extended her Lamar career records to 32 goals, 73 points and 10 game-winning goals.

Southeastern Louisiana held a 14-12 advantage in shots in the first half, but couldn't get the ball past Fontenot, who made seven saves.

The Lady Lions (10-3-0, 3-2-0) hoped to capitalize on having the wind at their backs in the second half, as they outshot Lamar 11-3, but still couldn't find a way to get the ball past Fontenot.

We knew Southeastern Louisiana would come out with more desperation in the second half,” Cervantes said. “However, I thought we did a great job of preventing them from getting quality shots. I never thought the game was in doubt in the second half.”

Jeanfreau finished with four saves for Southeastern Louisiana, which has lost two straight games for the first time this season.

The victory was Cervantes' 22^nd as Lamar coach, as the third-year coach tied the mark set by Dewi Hardman from 2008-2011.

“Dewi did a great job building the program,” Cervantes said. “It's nice to have the record, but it's more important that we got the wins and get into the Southland Conference Tournament.”

The Lady Cardinals return home to host Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. Friday in a Southland Conference showdown. The Bearkats are 3-2 in conference play following Sunday's loss at conference-leading Stephen F. Austin.

“They're all big games now,” Cervantes said. “The conference standings are so tight right now; you can't afford to give away any points.”

Tickets for Friday's game are available at www.LamarCardinals.com. Tickets are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the Montagne Center ticket office, or by calling (409) 880-1715. Tickets will be available at the Lamar Soccer Complex box office one hour prior to kickoff.

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