BEAUMONT, Texas - The sixth-seeded Lamar Cardinals jumped out to a two-goal lead before holding off a late rally from third-seeded Southeastern Louisiana in a 2-1 thriller in the Southland Conference quarterfinal matchup Tuesday evening at the LU Soccer Complex. The win propels LU to the conference tournament semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons.
Despite being outshot 25-16, the Cardinals were ignited by freshman goalkeeper Eloise Bywater, who posted her first double-digit save game of the season with 10. On offense, Kamryn Harvey and Anneliese Switzer scored for LU, with assists coming from Sydney Williams and Kaitlyn Niemeyer, respectively.
After both goalkeepers kept the opposition off the board early, the Cardinals controlled possession for most of the half. Their persistence would be rewarded in the 31st minute when Williams delivered a free kick to Harvey, who struck with her left foot to put LU up by a goal. SLU tried to equalize before the half, only to have Bywater pick up a key save.
Big Red opened the second half on the offensive with three chances in the first 20 minutes. In the 69th minute, Niemeyer headed in a cross from Switzer to double the Cardinal lead. SLU refused to give up, and over the final 20 minutes, they fired a flurry of shots. One of those shots would find the back of the net in the 83rd minute to cut the lead in half.
The Cardinals tried to extend the lead again, but it was SLU that had the last few opportunities to level the match. With a little over a minute left, Bywater snagged her 10th save that proved to be the final dagger as LU escaped with the 2-1 win.
"I'm super proud of this team tonight," said head coach Nathan Kogut. "We really had to dig deep against a very good Southeastern team, and I'm just so pleased with our group. Our subs off the bench changed the game, not just with the goals but with their energy and attitude as well. We have to turn around quickly and play the defending tournament champs on short rest, but so excited to play in front of our fans again."
Big Red's semifinal opponent will be second-seeded Stephen F. Austin, which needed penalty kicks to knock off seventh-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in its quarterfinal match. This will mark the fifth tournament meeting between the two schools and the first since 2019, when LU knocked off the Ladyjacks, 6-2.
The match will take place Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and will be streamed on ESPN+.
