BEAUMONT, Texas – Senior Marissa Gross netted her eighth goal and fifth game-winner of the season as Lamar University moved up three spots into first place in the Southland Conference standings with a 1-0 victory over UIW Thursday evening at the LU Soccer Complex. It marked LU's sixth shutout of the season and 38th of the Nathan Kogut era.
Big Red (7-2-4, 4-1-1 SLC) has won three straight matches and six of its last eight.
UIW (7-6-2, 4-2-0 SLC) entered the match tied with Northwestern State, which lost to Houston Christian, allowing LU to leapfrog both teams and take the top spot.
Both teams finished the match with 11 shots. Gross is now in a three-way tie for first in the league in goals scored, while freshman Diem Sealy was credited with the assist. Senior goalkeeper Keely Thomas tallied four saves.
Four minutes into the contest, Sealy fed Gross, who went on the breakaway and scored a one-on-one goal in the right corner to give LU a 1-0 lead. Big Red kept up the pressure, recording six more shots in the half. UIW was held without a shot for 39 minutes before taking four in the final six.
Lamar spent most of the second half defending its own territory as UIW recorded seven shots. On two occasions, the team from San Antonio momentarily had an open net with Thomas out of position, but sent its shots off target. UIW got one more attack in the final 10 minutes only for Thomas to turn away the other Cardinals as LU held on for the victory
Big Red will remain home Thursday, Oct. 22, when it welcomes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the LU Soccer Complex. The game will kick off at 5 p.m. and be streamed on ESPN+.
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