TOMBALL, Texas — The Lamar university women's soccer program notched its second victory of the 2020 season when they defeated Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, 2-1, Saturday afternoon in a friendly exhibition at Burroughs Park in Tomball, Texas. 
 
After a early goal by the Islanders, the stout Cardinal defense limited the shots by Texas A&M - Corpus Christi for the rest of the contest. Sophomore Nicole Panis got her second appearance between the pipes for the Cards as she saw eight shots on goal and tallied seven saves. 

 "I thought we saw a lot of improvement since our game against Texas State," said head coach Steve Holeman, "We are treating this fall as a real season, and we want to get better now and in preparation for our spring season. I thought we moved the ball well and our possessions were a lot better. We did not create a ton of chances, but we did a good job of finishing. I think defensively, we were disciplined and played solid throughout."

Offensively, things got out to a slow start for Lamar until the 40th minute when junior Christine Kitaru cut inside and placed a perfect ball to senior Brittany Harris that allowed the offense to start getting warm. In the 65th minute, freshman Arely Alaniz got open and received a near perfect pass from sophomore Paloma Martinez to net her first collegiate goal and put the Cards up 2-1. 

"It was so different," said freshman Arely Alaniz when she was asked about scoring her first collegiate goal. "I have played attacking mid my whole life, but its nothing like playing with a good team and being able to score."
 
The Cardinals defense was able to hold ground as Lamar wound out the clock to the final whistle to defeat the Islanders.