BEAUMONT, Texas – The Southland Conference regular season and tournament champs and the 2018 preseason favorites will begin their title defense Friday when Lamar University's soccer team opens its season by hosting Grambling State. The Cards and Tigers will play at 7 p.m. in the LU Soccer Complex.
 
11 members of the 2017 championship team return for the Cards including 2017 SLC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-SLC forward Kelso Peskin. Peskin was also named to the 2018 All-SLC Preseason First Team. Joining Peskin on the preseason first team were forward Lucy Ashworth and defender Amelia Fullmer, and Juliana Ocampo rounded out the preseason honorees as a Second Team midfielder.
 
Single-game ticket prices cost $5 for general admission, $3 per person for groups of 15 or more adults, and $2 per person for children or senior citizen groups of 15 or more.
 
Season tickets are also still available for $30 and can be purchased here.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT – Exhibition against Rice
 
Lamar University's soccer team got the new athletics calendar out to a good start Wednesday by knocking off Conference USA preseason favorite Rice in an exhibition at the LU Soccer Complex. Big Red posted a 3-2 victory over the Owls in front of the hometown fans.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Rice battled back to tie the game in the 50th minute of action. The rally would go no further as LU closed out the game with a goal in the 84th minute.
 
"What a great exhibition this was tonight," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "Rice is one of the top teams in Conference USA. They were picked to win it all again this year and the way they played tonight they may do that. This is a confidence builder for us, but at the end of the day we know it's just an exhibition."
 
Lamar vs. Grambling State
 
The Lady Tigers of Grambling State, while not matching Lamar's win total in 2017, also had a rather magical year last season. Grambling went 9-7-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), finishing both the regular season and the tournament as the runner-ups to SWAC champ Alabama State, losing the championship game to Alabama State on penalties, 4-2, in a 0-0 draw.
 
The Lady Tigers lost no significant pieces from its 2017 team and have seven starters returning that could make an impact in 2018, including SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and All-SWAC First Team member Kaylee Holt, All-SWAC First Team member Brittany Terry, All-SWAC Second-Team member Haileigh Adams, and All-SWAC Second Team member Jasmine Smith. Holt tied for second in the SWAC in goals scored with nine last year. She added four assists for a total of 22 points. Terry and Adams led a back line which had the best goals-against average in the SWAC, averaging 1.00 goals allowed per contest in 2017.
 
The Tigers are entering their second season under head coach Justin Wagar, who is hoping to garner Grambling's first conference title since 2004 and second in program history.

Fans can stay tuned to LamarCardinals.com or @LamarAthletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all season long for updates on soccer and all other Big Red teams competing in the 2018-19 season.