CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Lamar University won its seventh straight Friday with a 2-0 victory over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. Junior Ester Okoronkwo scored the only two goals of the match, while freshman Erin Branch played a crucial role in securing the clean sheet. This win keeps Lamar at the top of the Southland Conference leaderboard with only a few games left to play.
 
"There was a significant wind all night, at times 20-plus miles hour," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "It was really a tale of two halves -- we had the wind at our back in the first and they had it in the second. The wind was a huge factor in this game, but we knew it would be. The shots really tell the whole story.
 
"I thought their defense and keeper played really well tonight. They took it to us in the second half and our keeper stepped up big when we needed her too. She had to make a couple big saves," added Holeman.
 
The Cards started off the game with pressure. The first shot came literally a second into the game. Lamar decided to try and take advantage of the wind and fire a shot straight from the kick-off. This was just the first of many first half shots. In the first half alone, the Cardinals had 13 shots, 8 of which were on target and 2 found the back of the net.
 
The first goal came 20 minutes into the game. Junior Lucy Ashworth won a header in the center of the field, and the ball found the feet of Junior Madison Ledet. Ledet picked her head up and saw Okoronkwo making a darting run across the defenders. Ledet played the ball into the path of her teammate. Okoronkwo got to the ball and slipped it past the keeper to put Lamar up 1-0.
 
Okoronkwo was able to double her scoring tally in 27^th minute. The Islander goalkeeper made a mistake when trying to punt the ball up the field, and Okoronkwo was there. She was quick to recognize the error and collect the ball, but she still had work to do. The defender tried to pull her down, but Okoronkwo was too strong. She shrugged off the challenge and lifted the ball over the keeper and into the goal. This was the final goal of the half, and the Cardinals went into the locker room up 2-0.
 
A big part of Lamar's victory was freshman Erin Branch. She made save after save to keep the Islanders out of the net - her biggest coming off a free kick. Corpus Christi lined up from about 25 yards out and launched it toward the left corner of the goal. Branch made a diving save to keep the Islanders off the scoreboard. The Cardinal keeper ended the night with 11 saves and a clean sheet.
The second half was all about keeping the Islanders off the scoreboard and going home with the win. The Cardinals did just that. The defense held their ground despite being put under a lot of pressure. Lamar was able scare the Islanders a few more times with some pressure of their own, but they were unable to find the net in the second half. The defense held all the way through, and the Cards walked off the field victorious for the seventh-straight match.
 
"They play a different system than we do so we made a tactical adjust in the second and our team did a great job implementing that," said Holeman. "The second half became them possessing and creating chances and us counter-attacking and creating chances."
 
Lamar University heads to Houston, Texas to take on Houston Baptist Sunday. The Cardinals look to add another game to their win streak before returning home next week for their final game in preparation for the Southland Conference Tournament.