BEAUMONT, Texas - On a day where they honored seven members of the team for senior day, the Lamar University soccer team, having already clinched the regular season title and number one seed in the Southland Conference tournament, looked to make the last home regular season game a memorable one for their seniors. While LU fired 26 shots on the day, it would take one goal in the final three minutes to beat Nicholls to close out the regular season.

LU's 13 wins this season are the third most wins in program history trailing 2017 (18) and 2019 (16). They also matched the conference total of 10 wins from those two seasons, but with one tie.

Making the most of her senior day was Laura Linares, who scored the team's lone goal in the 87th minute. The Cardinals' defense would hold the Colonels to just two shots all game long although they came in the later portions of the match. Goalkeeper Reagan Carter made all 11 saves of the game for NICH while Christine Kitaru (assist) and Cariel Ellis each had six shots to lead the Cardinals.

After starting the game off looking for chances for 10 minutes, the Cardinals began firing their shots and applied pressure to the Colonels. LU managed 11 shots in all of the first half while Nicholls' keeper made five saves. The scoreless affair lasted through the first half and into the second half.

There, the Cardinals continued to put on a barrage of shots while their defense kept NSU off the shot chart for 40 minutes until the Colonels put up two shots that were both blocked. The game seemed to turn when one Colonel was booked for a red card giving that LU a one-player advantage. Big Red capitalized on the opportunity as Linares received a pass from Kitaru to place one in the net for the game-winning goal.

While the seven seniors will have one more guaranteed game in Cardinal Red as they get set for the conference championship tournament, LU head coach Nathan Kogut couldn't express his gratitude enough for their commitment. "They're champions," said head coach Kogut. "They're champions when we got here. They did it again this year. It's tough to find the words for what they've done and how much they meant to Lamar soccer and this university. They're fantastic people. They're part of our family and we're going to support them forever."

Because the Cardinals have clinched the top seed in the conference tournament, they get a bye in the first round. They will wait to play either the fourth seed or the fifth seed next Friday at 4:00 p.m. All the tournament games will be on the campus of Northwestern State University. 

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