BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University freshman Brittany Harris scored her first career goal as the Cardinals defeated the visiting Sam Houston State Bearkats in a Southland Conference women's soccer game before a boisterous crowd at the LU Soccer Complex on Friday night.
 
Harris' goal with 16:05 remaining proved to be an important insurance goal for the Cardinals (8-3-1 overall, 3-1 Southland), who are now in a five-way tie for first place in the conference heading into Sunday's meeting with Stephen F. Austin at the LU Soccer Complex.
 
Harris scored on a breakaway off a beautiful feed from senior midfielder M.J. Eckart. Harris got behind the defense and buried the shot behind Sam Houston State goalkeeper Anna Kaiser.
 
"Brittany showed a lot of composure on that play," LU coach Steve Holeman said. "Her speed makes her dangerous, but I was impressed by how she finished that play."
 
Sam Houston State (4-6-0, 1-3-0) struck first as Taylor Pritchard blasted a long shot past LU goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy. The Cardinals evened things up at halftime as Eckart scored on a penalty kick with 6:14 remaining in the half after LU's Juli Rocha was pulled down.
 
"M.J. is a senior and she's used to those situations," Holeman said as to why he chose Eckart to take the shot. "So much of penalty kicks is confidence."
 
That goal turned the momentum in LU's favor. The Cardinals got the go-ahead goal less than nine minutes into the second half when Juliana Ocampo's shot from the corner deflected off Kaiser's hands and into the back of the net.
 
"We came out like fire in the second half and got a bit of a break on the second goal," Holeman said. We created a lot of chances and took advantage of our break. It's our first come-from-behind win since I've been here."
 
Madison Ledet was credited with the assist on Ocampo's game-winner.
 
The Cardinals outshot the Bearkats 16-7 in the second half, and 27-15 for the game. Lovejoy made four saves in the win, while Kaiser stopped 10 shots for the Bearkats.
 
The Cardinals won't have much time to savor the win, as they immediately set their sights on Stephen F. Austin, which is 11-0 all-time against LU. The Ladyjacks are one of those teams tied at 3-1. Friday, SFA was a 2-0 winner at McNeese, handing the Cowgirls their first conference loss of the season.
 
"We'll have a light practice session on Saturday and go over our game plan," Holeman said. "We know that SFA has been one of the top teams in the conference for years. This is one of the reasons we played a tough non-conference schedule. We wanted to be ready for games like this."
 
Sunday is Youth Day, with all youth soccer players receiving free admission if they wear their team jersey to the game. In addition, fans who attend Saturday's football game between Nicholls and LU will receive free admission to Sunday's game if they present their football ticket stub at the LU Soccer Complex ticket window.