BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University's soccer team is making their fourth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament having repeated as Southland Conference champions. With their destination set for the first round of the tournament, the Cardinals will make a trip to Austin to take on the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns.
Fourth Southland Title in Seven Seasons
The Cardinals defeated the McNeese Cowgirls 3-1 in the SLC Championship match with goals scored from Arely Alaniz, Trinity Clark, and Eva Karen, while goalkeeper Nicole Panis made three saves. This is the fourth title in program history after Big Red won previous titles in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Alaniz was named the tournament MVP while she, Trinity Clark, Hollie Massey, Cariel Ellis, and Riley Wilson each earned all-tournament team spots.
2023 Cardinals Are Like the 2022 Cardinals
For the second season in a row, the Cardinals have won 15 matches in the regular season. This ties them for third most in a single season all-time with last year's squad. The 2017 team has the record with 18 wins.
Homecoming for the Austin Twins
For the twin sisters of Alana Clark and Trinity Clark, this will be a homecoming for them as they both hail from Austin. The two of them spent their first two seasons in collegiate soccer at Texas State University before transferring to Lamar last season.
Miss Finland + NCAA Tournament x 3 = ???
Kaisa Juvonen, a resident from Tampere, Finland, is the only Cardinal making her third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She's also the only active four-time all-SLC member on LU with two first teams and two second teams. As a freshman in 2019, she was part of the squad that won 16 games and scored three goals with two assists in 22 games started. Last season, she appeared in 18 games with 16 starts and recorded an assist while helping LU to 15 wins. This season, in 17 games, she scored a goal and recorded two assists while helping LU to 15 wins. In her career, she's played 78 games with four goals, eight assists and tallied 16 points.
NCAA All-Time Tournament Appearances
While the Cardinals are making their fourth tournament appearance all-time, they are still in search of their first tournament victory. In 2017, the Cardinals fell 1-0 to Texas A&M in College Station. Two years later, LU fell 4-1 to UCLA out in Los Angeles. Last season, Big Red ended their campaign with a 3-1 loss against LSU in Baton Rouge.
History vs. Texas
This will mark the first meeting all-time between LU and Texas.
Meet the Longhorns
The Longhorns won the Big XII conference tournament after posting a 15-4-2 record, which included wins against West Virginia, Texas Tech, and BYU. Scoring 66 goals (3.14 per game) and allowing 21 (1.00 per game), Texas is led by the tandem of Big XII Midfielder of the Year Lexi Missimo (24 G, 19 A, 67 points) and Forward of the Year Trinity Byars (17 G, 13 A, 47 points) who have combined for 41 goals, 32 assists, and 114 points. Missimo was also the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player with nine points and four goals. In goal, Big XII Goalkeeper of the Year and the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Mia Justus has conceded 20 goals (0.99 GAA) while making 78 saves and won 15 games.
Should LU Win
They will advance to the next round to take on the winner of No. 4 Wisconsin and Milwaukee. The match will be next Friday with the location and time to be determined.
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