Box Score CONWAY, Ark. – Junior Esther Okoronkwo scored three of her four goals in the first half to guide top-seeded Lamar University over No. 8-seed Stephen F. Austin, 6-2, Wednesday evening in the opening round of the 2019 Southland Conference Championships at the Bill Stephens Track and Soccer Complex.
 
Okoronkwo etched her name in the Southland record books with her third goal of the night. That goal gave her 22 for the season setting a new Southland Conference single season record. In addition to Okoronkwo's record, junior Lucy Ashworth tied the Southland's single-season mark with her 14^th assist of the season, snagging the overall top spot with another assist (to Okoronkwo) in the second half.
 
"One of the really cool things about Lucy and Esther is they don't get caught up in all the stats," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "The fact that they set records will be news to them. They're only concerned with doing what helps the team win."
 
The flood gates opened early in the first half based off an SFA mistake. The 'Jacks allowed a ball to slip past the goalkeeper giving LU the 1-0 lead on an own goal. Seeking the knockout punch early, the Cardinals went on the attack looking to add to their lead. Big Red did just that 1:38 later when Okoronkwo took a pass from junior Juana Plata and buried the shot in the back right corner of the net.
 
The score remained 2-0 for the next 14 minutes before Okoronkwo was back on the attack again. This time she took a feed from junior Madison Ledet to give the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage. Okoronkwo got the hat trick in the first when she added another goal less than two minutes later to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead at the intermission.
 
"We started off very well tonight," said Holeman. "The first half was one of the best halves of soccer we've played all season. On the first goal, Lucy had shared the ball in and a defender went to clear and it just ricochet off her into the net."
 
LU's offense took the Ladyjacks to task in the opening 45 minutes of action. The Cards registered 16 shots, including nine on goal. Big Red did a solid job of keeping the ball in the SFA zone in the opening half of play. The Ladyjacks managed just three shots in the opening half, with two on goal but both were saved.
 
The Ladyjacks finally got on the scoreboard 11 minutes into the second half on a goal from Katelyn Termini, but the celebration was short lived – just 18 seconds to be exact. The Cardinals again proved their quick strike capabilities when Okoronkwo took a pass from Lucy Ashworth and scored just 18 seconds later.
 
The dagger ended any thoughts of a comeback as the Red and White cruised to a 6-2 victory. The Cardinals (14-6) now turn their attention to the winner of the UIW (fourth seed) vs. A&M-Corpus Christi (fifth seed) match up. The final game of the day will begin at 8 p.m. from the Bill Stephens Track and Soccer Complex.
 
"We will find out who our next opponent is in a couple hours, but one of the really good things that came from a big first half lead is we got to rest some players," said Holeman. "Even though we don't have a lot of available subs we were able to get some players early rest tonight. No matter who we face in the next round we know that both teams are very good defensively."