ABILENE, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals saw the host Abilene Christian Wildcats score a pair of late goals to rally for a 2-1 win in a Southland Conference women's soccer game Friday evening.
 
"ACU was as good of a team that we have seen this season," LU coach Steve Holeman said. "We had a 1-0 lead at halftime, and that seemed to bring out the best of them in the second half."
 
The Cardinals (1-12-2 overall, 0-5-2 Southland) took a 1-0 lead when Jordan Mulnix scored an unassisted goal 31:24 into the contest. The LU sophomore beat a defender on the far side and slipped a shot past ACU goalkeeper Sydney Newton for her third goal of the season. Mulnix's tally was the 15^th goal of her career, moving her into a tie with Jannet Hernandez for fourth place on the all-time LU list.
 
ACU (6-7-2, 5-1-1) dominated the second half, outshooting the Cardinals 17-1 over the final 45 minutes.
 
"It was the same thing. Shot, save. Shot, save. Shot, save," Holeman said. "They were the better team tonight, and they proved it."
 
The Wildcats evened the game on Leslie Snider's third goal of the season. Snider collected a rebound of Dylan Owens' shot that deflected off the crossbar, depositing it past LU goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy.
 
"We didn't have an answer for Snider," admitted Holeman. "She is one of the best playmakers I've seen this season."
 
The Wildcats scored what proved to be the game-winning goal when Shay Johnson scored with 8:59 remaining in regulation, taking a pass from Samantha Vestal and firing the shot past Lovejoy.
 
Lovejoy made nine saves for the Cardinals. Newton turned aside one shot for ACU.
 
The Cardinals close out the road portion of the regular-season schedule at 1 p.m. Sunday at Incarnate Word. Following the game at UIW, LU returns home for the final three games of the regular season, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. Oct. 21; Houston Baptist at 1 p.m. Oct. 23 and McNeese at 1 p.m. Oct. 28. LU is almost in a must-win situation over the final four games of the season.
 
"We just have to go out Sunday and give it our best," Holeman said. "We can't worry what other teams do. We just have to take care of our business."