BEAUMONT, Texas - It all comes down to this. The 2018 Lamar University women's soccer regular season will close out Friday with a lot on the line. When the Cards make the 45-minute journey to Lake Charles, La., to face McNeese, it'll be much more than a regular season game. Big Red will be playing for playoff positioning and, perhaps most importantly, bragging rights in the Battle of the Border.

THE LAST TIME OUT - HBU AND TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI

HBU
Lamar University scored two goals in the game's first 17 minutes and rode a strong defensive effort the rest of the night to defeat Houston Baptist, 2-0, on Senior Night Friday at the LU Soccer Complex. It marked the eighth time this season the LU defense has pitched a shutout.
 
Freshman Sandra Nygard got the start in net and went the distance recording four saves. She improves to 7-1-2 on the year and lowers her goals against average to 0.98.
 
The Cardinals outshot their guests, 19-12, including a 14-7 advantage in the opening 45 minutes of action. HBU was also hurt by eight fouls in the game.
 
"We've been looking for that time when we could get off to a quick start and it just happened to be tonight," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "It's senior night, and our girls had a lot to play for, so they really came out with a lot of energy. From start to finish, I think this was our best performance of the year."

TEXAS A&M - CORPUS CHRISTI
Senior Kelso Peskin recorded a hat trick as Lamar University scored six unanswered goals to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the LU Soccer Complex. After surrendering the opening goal of the game, the Cardinals rallied for six unanswered to pick up their 11^th victory of the season.
 
"We weren't very pleased with our performance in the first half, but credit goes to A&M-Corpus Christi who came out aggressively. That goal we allowed in the first half woke us up a bit, and though we managed to tie it up at half time, 1-1, we felt like we weren't giving it our best," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "We got on to them a little bit and reminded them of the standard we've set for ourselves and that we haven't met that standard in the first 45 minutes. In the second half we came out and played like we should play and you saw the result."

THIS WEEK - MCNEESE

Lamar at McNeese - Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. - Battle of the Border
McNeese is 12-6-1 overall this season and 6-3-1 in Southland Conference play. The Cowgirls currently sit fourth in the SLC standings, holding a tiebreaker over Abilene Christian. Lamar is second in the SLC standings, holding a one-point lead over Houston Baptist and the tiebreaker. There are several scenarios that could take place Friday, including the following:
 

1. A Lamar win (whether or not HBU wins) secures second place for Big Red and would give ACU space to move up to fourth with a victory over UIW.
    
2. A McNeese win and an HBU loss at A&M-Corpus Christi secures second place for Lamar, third for HBU, and fourth for McNeese.
    
3. A McNeese win and an HBU win at A&M-Corpus Christi would move Lamar into third place and HBU into second. McNeese would remain fourth.

Drew Fitzgerald is in his third season as the head coach of the Cowgirls, getting his start in Lake Charles around the same time that Coach Holeman began in Beaumont. Fitzgerald is 33-21-4 in that time including an 18-12-2 mark in SLC play. He's 0-2 against Lamar, but this is the first time the two teams will meet at Cowgirl field in the Holeman and Fitzgerald era.

McNeese ranks near the top of the SLC in several categories, including the highest shot accuracy in the league with 58.3 percent of its shots finding their way on goal. The Cowgirls average 1.79 goals a game, fourth in the SLC, and allow just under a goal a game (third in SLC, 0.853 goals a game).

Havana Johnson is dangerous when the game is on the line, ranking fourth in the SLC in game-winning goals with three. She's scored seven total goals and assisted on two more. Morgan Middleton has another six goals, Keely Morrow has four, and three Cowgirls have three goals apiece. Anna Watson has assisted on five goals this season.

Emma Rocaforte has one of the best save percentages in the SLC - fourth at 83.3 percent. She has five shutouts this year.

UP NEXT
The 2018 Southland Conference tournament will take place Oct. 31 through Nov. 4 at the LU Soccer Complex. The Cards will be either the second or third seed in the tourney, which will give them either an 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. kick in the first round next Wednesday.