CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Madison Ledet's goal midway through the first half was all the top-seeded Lamar University Cardinals needed as they advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals with a 1-0 win over the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Wednesday.
 
Ledet converted a throw-in from Kelso Peskin with 24:12 remaining in the first half for her third goal of the season as Peskin extended her school record with her 11^th assist of the year. After that, a stifling LU defense shut down the eighth-seeded Islanders, limiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to five shots overall and three shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (16-3-1), making their first appearance in the tournament since 2012 when they advanced to the finals, ran their winning streak to 10 games. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the No. 8 seed, ends its season at 6-9-3.
 
"We passed our first test," LU coach Steve Holeman said. "None of our players had ever played in the tournament before, so this was a positive experience for us."
 
LU goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy made three saves for her ninth shutout of the season and 11^th of her career. Lovejoy's whitewash was the first LU shutout in conference tournament play.
 
"Our defense did a great job tonight," Holeman said. "They had some chances, but we did a good job of limiting them, and Lauren was solid in goal for us.
 
"Nobody on our team thought this was going to be easy," Holeman said. "They had some chances, but we stayed strong."
 
Peskin had five shots and three shots on goal for LU. Peskin had a glorious scoring opportunity in the second half, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi goalkeeper Kyleigh Hall made a scintillating save on Peskin's cannonading shot from about 18 yards out.
 
The Cardinals face fourth-seeded Central Arkansas (11-9-0) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday. Central Arkansas gave the Cardinals their only loss in SLC play this year, a 4-1 decision at UCA back on Sept. 22. Central Arkansas advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win over defending tournament champion Houston Baptist.
 
"Central Arkansas played a great game against us," Holeman said. "That night they were one of the best teams we've faced all year. We'll have to take a different approach against them this time."
 
Friday's other semifinal gets underway at 4 p.m. as second-seeded Stephen F. Austin faces sixth-seeded Abilene Christian. SFA was a 4-1 winner over No. 7 Sam Houston State on Wednesday, while Abilene Christian upended third-seeded McNeese on penalty kicks after the teams played to a scoreless draw.
 
Sunday's championship game starts at 1:05 p.m. Friday's games will be on the Southland Conference Digital network. The championship game will be on ESPN3.