BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University soccer team hits the road for two critical road games at Houston Christian (Oct. 18th, 7 p.m.) and Texas A&M-Commerce (Oct. 20th, 1 p.m.) looking to climb up the Southland Conference standings ladder. The Cardinals currently sit as the eighth seed in the SLC tournament picture with four games to go in the regular season.
Previously
The Cardinals (4-6-4, 2-2-2 SLC) began last week battling Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a scoreless draw on Friday, then picked up three critical points two days later by coming from behind to beat McNeese 2-1.
Isela Ramirez equalized on an assist from
Arely Alaniz against the rivals from just across the Texas-Louisiana border while
Cena Carlson converted LU's first penalty kick of the season, which proved to be the game winner. In goal,
Taylor Howard matched her season high with six saves.
SLC Tournament Picture
Both LU and Corpus Christi each have two conference wins and two ties for eight points, but the Islanders are currently seventh having played one less conference game. UT Rio Grande Valley (2-1-3) and UIW (3-3) have a one-point lead on the Cardinals while Northwestern State sits in fourth with 10. The Cardinals lead by three points against HCU, who will be their opponent Friday night.
All-Time vs. Houston Christian
Heading into their 15th meeting all-time, the Cardinals are 8-3-3 against the Huskies. This includes a current seven-match winning streak with LU outscoring HCU 17-3. Last season, the Cardinals came away with a 4-1 home victory as Alaniz,
Alana Clark,
Kamryn Harvey, and Ramirez scored for the Cardinals while
Rafiatu Alhassan assisted on Harvey's goal.
About Houston Christian
The Huskies (3-8-4, 1-3-2 SLC) are coming off a 2-1 loss to UIW with Olivia Rossman scoring the lone goal for HCU. Rossman leads HCU with four goals and is tied for the team lead with three points alongside Alexa Huerta. In 13 games in goal, Emmy McKeon has a goals against average (GAA) of 1.32 and currently sits second in the conference with 66 saves and fourth with a saves percentage of .795.
All-Time vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
Since Commerce joined the SLC two years ago, LU is 3-0-1 against the Lions. Big Red hosted last season's meeting and played to a 2-2 tie, which included a goal from
Alana Clark. Big Red's only trip to Commerce resulted in a 2-1 win during the 2022 season.
About Texas A&M-Commerce
The Lions (5-7-3, 4-1-1 SLC) currently sit in third place in the conference after defeating Northwestern State 2-1 behind goals from Kaydence Ramirez and Savannah Powell. Ramirez has been on a tear lately scoring six goals in her team's last five games to put herself in the team lead with seven. Gillian McKenzie has a GAA of 1.84 with 42 saves and two shutouts this season.
Up Next
The Cardinals head down to Natchitoches, La. for their next meeting against Northwestern State on Oct. 25th. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
