BEAUMONT, Texas – On a blazing sunny afternoon in Southeast Texas, three different Lamar University players scored multiple goals to lead the Cardinals to a 9-0 decision over Alcorn State at the LU Soccer Complex.
 
Big Red's Isela Ramirez, Laura Linares and Christine Kitaru each netted two goals on the day as LU improves to 2-3 (.400) on the season.
 
"When it's hot you have to be able to keep the ball, and we did that today," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "They surprised us a bit because we were not prepared for an offsides trap. They didn't show that any of the games we scouted. We made some adjustments at halftime that created some breakaway opportunities.
 
"We've been on the opposite end of some of those games this season where our opponents have controlled things.  We had the ball with some more chances and took advantage. It was nice to have a game where we were the favorite and got the job done. This win came at a good time because we have some more tough games ahead of us," added Holeman.
 
Big Red outshot their opponents, 25-5, on an extremely hot and humid afternoon in Beaumont. Of LU's 25 attempts, 16 were on goal.
 
The Cardinals came out in force, with a strong show of possession play, switching the play left to right, trying to find a way behind the Alcorn State defense. It wasn't long until the persistence paid off, with a play on the left side of the field in the 14^th minute which saw Juana Plata find a neat ball behind the defense, which was met by a fast-moving Meg Sheppard who was in on goal. A cool, calm, and collected finish, Sheppard put LU up 1-0.
 
Just 40 seconds later, Lamar put more pressure on the Braves, earning back possession, Sheppard found herself with the ball at her feet. With a nice little pass, she found Isela Ramirez, who slotted the ball into the back of the net.
 
Senior Hollie Massey gave the Cards a three-goal lead just before half. A foul on the edge of the box saw Massey step up to the freekick in the 31^st minute. With the positioning of the ball, she only had one thing in mind. A beautiful, curled effort dipping in just under the bar had the keeper reaching, but without result.
 
At the beginning of the second, we saw more of the same with Big Red continuing to play with control and a lot of switching. A lot of through balls from the LU midfield and the runs met, saw plenty of shots on goal from the attack, many met by the Alcorn goalkeeper (Mikayla Shaughnessy) or drifting just wide of the goal.
 
LU's first goal of the second half came in the 68^th minute off the foot of Ramirez (her fourth of the season) to give LU a commanding 4-0 advantage, and the Cards were just getting warmed up. Just 44 seconds later Linares netted the first of her two goals as the Cards went up 5-0. It was the second of three times that LU would score a goal less than a minute after the previous.
 
The Cardinals already had a 7-0 lead when Kitaru scored the first of her two goals (85^th minute) to take a 7-0 lead. The Red and White scored three goals in the game's final 5:46 for the final score (Kitaru – 85^th minute, Linares – 89^th minute and Kitaru – 89^th minute).
 
The Cardinals return to action Friday when they travel to San Antonio, Texas to take on UTSA. The game against the Roadrunners is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.