BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University's soccer team has won their last 11 straight games after a victory over UIW on Friday night. Now, they host Texas A&M-Commerce in a rematch of last season's Southland Conference tournament championship starting at 1:00 pm.

11 in a Row
LU secured their eleventh straight victory by defeating UIW 1-0. Isela Ramirez scored the lone goal of the game on an assist by Hollie Massey and Arely Alaniz. This marks the third time in program history that LU has won 11 straight games with the two previous coming in 2017 and 2019. A win over TAMUC would tie the program record of 12. 

Panis Save Countdown
Panis recorded two saves against UIW. This puts her at 322 career saves, which puts four back of second all-time behind Jennifer Gibbs and six behind Bailey Fontenot. 

History vs. Lions
In TAMUC's first season up in the NCAA Division I level, LU greeted the Lions by defeating them all three times. The first meeting took place in Beaumont and that match saw LU score three goals in the final 10 minutes to win 3-1. Ramirez and Ellis scored two of the goals while the latter and Kolbi Coleman each recorded an assist. Panis recorded five saves.

Almost a month later, LU traveled to Commerce and defeated the Lions 2-1. Ellis scored twice in the win while Panis made six saves. Then, the Cardinals defeated TAMUC 4-1 in the conference championship game. Once again, Ellis scored twice in the win and also got an assist while Panis snagged six saves. Ellis, Panis, and Laura Linares were three of five Cardinals named to the all-tournament team. 

Meet the Lions
The Lions suffered their first conference loss of the season after falling 2-1 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Kaydence Ramirez scored her sixth goal of the season in the match, which along with four assists makes her second on the team with 16 points. Hannah Bell has a team-high 17 points with eight goals and an assist. Sophia Dean (33 saves; 2.23 GAA) and Gillian McKenzie (25 saves; 2.19 GAA) have a combined 58 saves and a 2.21 goals against average. 

Southland Conference Standings Update
Still undefeated at 7-0 LU (21 points) has a six-point lead over TAMUC (15 points) and an eight-point lead over McNeese (13 points) and TAMU-CC (13 points). If LU defeats TAMUC tomorrow and both MSU and TAMU-CC draw or lose their matches, the Cardinals would have all but clinched the conference regular season title. 

Next Up For LU
The Cardinals travel to Corpus Christi to meet with the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at 7:00 p.m. 
 

#WeAreLU