BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's soccer team concludes its four-game home stand this Thursday and Sunday when they host Southern Miss. and Alabama at the LU Soccer Complex.
 
The Cards will host Southern Miss. on Thursday at 1 p.m. and round out the homestand on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. when they host Alabama.
 
On Thursday at the LU Soccer Complex, fans can play Soccer Bingo. All fans can get a Soccer Bingo card and play during the match and the first 15 fans to get bingo win a prize. On Sunday against Alabama its Student Appreciation Day. All students at the game on Sunday against Alabama will receive a raffle ticket at the gate for the potential to win a big prize.
  
THIS WEEK – Thursday, Aug. 29 vs. Southern Miss., 1 p.m. (Beaumont, Texas/LU Soccer Complex)
Thursday's game will be the third game of the 2019 season for both the Golden Eagles and Cardinals. Southern Miss. enters the contest with an 0-2 record as they were defeated in its season opener, 1-0, to Missouri. On Aug. 25, the Golden Eagles lost 3-2 to Southeast Missouri State.
 
The Golden Eagles have scored two goals this season and have nine shots, with six shots being on goal. Hailey Pohevitz and Alice Campos have scored one goal each for Southern Miss. Ariel Diaz leads the team with three shots.
 
In goal, Kendell Mindnich has been the lone goalkeeper for the Golden Eagles this season. She has recorded nine saves and has allowed four goals in two games.

This will be the second matchup in school history between these two schools. The previous matchup was held on Sept. 9, 2016, in Hattiesburg, Miss. Southern Miss came away with a 3-0 victory over LU. The two teams were scheduled to play during the 2017 season, but the matchup was canceled.
 
Southern Miss. was picked to finish ninth in the C-USA.
 
Sunday, Sept. 1 vs. Alabama, 1 p.m. (Beaumont, Texas/LU Soccer Complex)
On Sunday, the Cards face the Tide of Alabama. Prior to playing LU, the Tide will be in Houston, Texas taking on Rice on Thursday at 7 p.m. Alabama enters this week with a 1-1 record. They have a 3-0 win over Utah and a 1-0 loss to BYU. Both games were played in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 
Alabama has scored three goals on the season while attempting 23 shots. They are averaging 1.5 goals per game. On the defensive side, Alabama has only allowed one goal this season with its goalkeepers recording 12 saves. The Tide are outshooting opponents in the first have but are being outshot in the second half.
 
Three different Tide players have scored a goal this season. Casey Wertz, Brynn Martin, and Macy Clem, all have one goal this season. Wertz and Riley Mattingly lead the team with one assist each. Mattingly leads the team with five shots this season. Alabama is averaging 11.5 shots per game.
 
Over the first two games of the season, the Tide have only allowed one goal and teams are averaging 11.5 shots per game. Alex Plavin has played all 180 minutes in goal this season and is allowing 0.5 goals per game and making six saves per game.
 
The Tide were picked to finish ninth in the SEC this season. Alabama had four players selected to the SEC preseason watch list. Chloe Maize, Nealy Martin, Taylor Morgan, and Casey Wertz were selected to the preseason watch list.
 
This will be the first matchup between Alabama and Lamar.
 
LAST TIME OUT – LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (Aug. 25)
The Lamar University women's soccer team scored the first four goals of the night as they went on to score five in a 5-1 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday night at the LU Soccer Complex. LU had five different players score in the match.
 
"We started a little shaky as they (ULL) had an opportunity to go ahead 1-0 early in the match," remarked head coach Steve Holeman. "What a great goal by Lucy (Ashworth) to bury it in the top left corner of the net and that gave us momentum for the rest of the half. We have gotten better each time out this season. We faced some adversity in the game as we went a player down tonight and we fought hard and continued to battle and scored two goals being down a player."
 
LU outshot the Ragin' Cajuns 18-13 in the match and 8-6 on shots on goal. LU recorded five saves in the contest. This is the second straight victory for LU in the series against Louisiana-Lafayette.
 
Leading SLC in Points
Esther Okoronkwo is tied for the lead in the Southland Conference for points. She has scored four points, one goal and two assists on the season. Her two assists put her in a tie for first for SLC players. The only other player with two assists is Kristy Helmers from Nicholls. Okoronkwo appeared in four games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. She received a medical redshirt for the 2018 season.
 
LU Goal Explosion
The Lamar University offense exploded for five goals in the victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The five goals were the most goals scored since Oct. 21, 2018, when LU scored six goals against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In the contest against the Ragin' Cajuns, the Cardinals had five different players score a goal. Last year, the Cards scored five or more goals three times, none had five different goal scorers as the Cardinals had on Sunday. Each of the five LU scorers are tied for fourth in goals in the SLC.

UP NEXT
Following the contest against Alabama, the Cardinals hit the road for its first road games of the season when they travel to Arkansas (Sept. 5) and Tulsa (Sept. 8). Kickoff against the Razorbacks is set for 7 p.m.