BEAUMONT, Texas - With the top seed of the Southland Conference Tournament, the regular season champion Lamar University soccer team will look to add a conference title to their strong season. They will open up the tournament with fourth seed Houston Christian for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff on Friday. The tournament will take place on the campus of Northwestern State University.
Closing Out The Regular Season in Style
The Cardinals won a thrilling 1-0 victory on senior day last Friday to beat Nicholls.
Laura Linares netted the lone goal with three minutes to go in the contest while LU held the Colonels to just two shots all game long.
All-Conference Seven
The Southland Conference recognized seven members of LU for their historic season by placing them on the all-conference teams. Honored as first team members were
Arely Alaniz,
Cariel Ellis,
Kaisa Juvonen,
Christine Kitaru,
Nicole Panis, and
Isela Ramirez.
Trinity Clark was honored as a member of the second team.
Defender of the Pitch
Alaniz was honored by the SLC as Defender of the Year. She helped the Cardinals to allowing a season-low eight goals in the regular season and also with eight shutouts. She also scored twice this season.
Ms. Gatekeeper
Panis also earned SLC Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the entire conference with a 0.52 GAA, a .887 save percentage, and eight shutouts. A four-time recipient of the SLC Goalkeeper of the Week award, Panis set the school record for most wins (30) and shutouts (19).
Oh No! It's The Fearless Leader
Head coach
Nathan Kogut earned SLC Coach of the Year honors after leading LU to a 13-1-2 overall record and a 10-1-1 conference record, which garnered them their third regular season conference title in five years.
History With Huskies
The Cardinals blanked HCU 3-0 as goals came from
Alana Clark, Linares, and
Christine Kitaru. Panis, Kitaru, and Ellis would also have an assist while Panis made six saves in goal.
Huskies Win In Extra Time
HCU needed extra time to secure a 1-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the first round of the tournament. The winning goal came from Alexa Huerta in the 106th minute while Chloe Bagshaw made three saves in goal for the Huskies. HCU outshot the Lions 23-11 all game long including a 7-2 advantage in extra time.
Up Next
Should LU win on Friday, they will take on the winner of Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce in the championship game on Sunday at 1:00 PM.
