BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University will look to boost its Southland Conference tournament seeding when it hosts first-place Northwestern State Thursday at the LU Soccer Complex. The match will start at 7 p.m., and will be streamed on ESPN+.
PREVIOUSLY
The Cardinals gained a point in the Southland Conference standings after a scoreless draw with Nicholls Sunday.
Maddie Rich started in goal and posted two saves.
SENIOR CINCO
The Cardinals will be honoring five seniors for their careers at LU Thursday. The five that are being recognized are
Ella Carmody,
Annika Kassenbrock,
Olivia Smith,
Katherine Williams, and
Lauryn Woodard. Combined, they have contributed to two SLC regular-season and tournament titles, along with 40 wins and 32 shutouts.
WHERE ARE WE, SOUTHLAND?
The Cardinals (5-6-5, 2-2-4 SLC) are currently tied for fifth in the standings with McNeese (4-9-3, 3-3-1 SLC) with 10 points, trailing Southeastern Louisiana (4-7-4, 3-3-2 SLC) by one and East Texas A&M (6-6-4, 3-1-4 SLC) by three. There is a three-way tie for seventh between Houston Christian (7-7-2), UIW (4-7-3) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-8-4), who all have eight points in conference play.
NO. 1 vs. NO. 2
Thursday's match will feature matchups of the Southland's top two players in both scoring and assists.
Lauren Smith's 10 goals are behind NSU's Emily Senatore (11), but she holds the points advantage (24-23) thanks to four assists. Meanwhile, Kassenbrock remains the conference's co-leader alongside NSU's Riley Stern with eight.
ALL-TIME vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE
The Cardinals are 11-6-3 all-time against NSU. Last season, the Demons blanked LU 2-0 in Natchitoches, La.
ABOUT THE DEMONS
NSU (11-3-3, 6-1-1 SLC) is riding a five-match winning streak after a 1-0 win over UIW. Paige Baumgartner tallied the lone goal, her seventh of the season, which is second on the team and tied for third in the conference.
SWEEPING WITH FORKS
The Demons swept the SLC Player of the Week honors with Baumgartner winning offensive player of the week scoring a goal in the last two games. Defender Jessica Spitzer was named Defensive Player of the Week, helping NSU to two shutouts, while Kennedy Rist was named Goalkeeper of the Week with six saves.
DE IS FOR DEMON & DEFENSE
NSU is the only program to allow fewer than a goal per game (0.59) as it has conceded 10 goals. Goalkeeper Kennedy Rist posts a goals against average of .63 with 54 saves. The Demons also lead the conference with nine shutouts, which is one ahead of East Texas A&M. This includes a stretch where NSU has shut out six of the nine opponents and are 5-0-1 in those six shutouts.
UP NEXT
Lamar's final regular season contest sees them head down to Edinburg to meet the Vaqueros of UT Rio Grande Valley Thursday, Oct. 30th, at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
