BEAUMONT, Texas - The contest between the Lamar University and Abilene Christian women's soccer teams appeared to be heading to the same result much like it did about a month ago. But with two-and-a-half minutes left in the second overtime, the Cardinals would get a game winner from Meg Sheppard to knock off the Wildcats 1-0. At the end of the regular season, LU finishes 9-7-2 overall and 6-2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.
 
Thirty shots were taken between the two teams with ACU having 18 of them. Nicole Panis recorded her second double-digit save game of the season with 10. Christine Kitaru posted four shots to lead LU while Sheppard and Eva Karen each had three.
 
"As we expected, this was going to be a one-goal game," said head coach Steve Holeman. "It was just going to take one moment for one of the teams. It could've gone either way. Hats off to Abilene Christian. They had a lot to play for. They're a great team. We're happy to get a victory, but we just got to keep things in perspective, move forward and get ready for the tournament."
 
ACU got more looks in the first half rattling off six of the seven shots between the two teams. In the second half, both teams combined for 15 shots with LU having an early chance to score in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes of regulation, the game remained scoreless and headed to overtime.
 
Only three shots were taken by the two teams combined in the first overtime session. Sheppard would take her first overtime shot only to see it saved. Panis made a couple of key saves to keep ACU off the board before Sheppard got a second chance and this time capitalized in the 108th minute ending the contest.
 
LU will finish as the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will wait to see how the rest of the bracket fills out before beginning their playoff journey next Wednesday.
 

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