HAMMOND – The fortunes have not been kind to the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team during the past month, but on the final day of the regular season everything went the Lady Lions' way.

 

Southeastern headed into Sunday's final match needing a victory over Nicholls State and a Sam Houston State loss or tie or a Northwestern State loss or tie to earn a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 6-9 in Lake Charles.

 

The Lady Lions (11-5-1, 5-4 SLC) roared to a 4-0 lead in the match's first 24 minutes on the way to a 5-1 rout of Nicholls State (2-16, 0-9 SLC) Sunday at the Colonel Soccer Complex. However, the Lady Lions still needed Lamar to upset Sam Houston State or UTSA to knock off Northwestern State.

 

The Lady Lions clinched a tourney berth when UTSA held off Northwestern State, 1-0, with a goal three minutes into the match. The Demons caught a break, however, as Lamar shocked Sam Houston State, 2-1, eliminating the Bearkats from postseason play and giving Northwestern State the final tourney spot.

 

After losing its first three league matches all by a 1-0 score, Southeastern clinched its 11^th Southland Conference Tournament appearance in its 12 years in the league by winning five of its last six SLC matches.

 

“We came out with a tremendous team effort today,” Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. “Kyle MacIntosh, Nicole Brannigan, Natalie Santana and Dana Mayer were all excellent for us today. We are very proud of our student-athletes for not letting those early losses get us down and we showed a lot of character to put ourselves in the position to return to the Southland Conference Tournament.

 

“The Southland Conference is an extremely competitive conference, so it's no surprise that it came down to the last day,” Hornbuckle added. “We are excited that today's results went our way and we have a chance to compete in the postseason.”

 

Southeastern jumped to a 1-0 lead in the match's second minute. Senior Kristin McDonald scored her team-high eighth goal of the season. Senior Janae Sheldon hit a corner kick that bounced in front of the goal and McDonald put it home to give Southeastern the early edge.

 

Sheldon got in on the scoring 11 minutes later, taking a feed from junior Candice Wallace and scoring her second goal of the season from point blank range.

 

Less than three minutes later, Wallace hit a long pass to Santana who rifled a shot off the hands off NSU goalkeeper Lana Ashford and into the net. Santana's fourth goal of the season put the Lady Lions up 3-0. Wallace and Santana finished the regular season tied for the team lead with a league-high eight assists.

 

Southeastern put the match out of reach in the 24^th minute. Freshman Brittany Prieto hit a shot that deflected off Ashford's hands and freshman Meaghan Krawczyk sent it into the net for her sixth goal of the season and a 4-0 Lady Lion lead.

 

Nicholls State, who Southeastern out-shot 26-7, spoiled Southeastern's shutout bid late in the first half. Kandice Champagne took a feed from Alicia Gautreau and sent a shot past Southeastern freshman goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus, to pull the Lady Colonels to 4-1, heading into the half. Bockhaus finished with four saves on the day and a 0.70 goals against average for the regular season.

 

Southeastern put the exclamation point on its victory with just over nine minutes remaining in the match. Brannigan found Mayer, who put in her sixth goal of the season to provide the final margin.

 

The Lady Lions will be the fifth seed in this week's Southland Conference Tournament, opening play on Thursday with a 4:30 p.m. match versus No. 4 seed Stephen F. Austin. Should Southeastern win on Thursday, the Lady Lions would face top-seeded Texas State, which wrapped up the SLC title with a win over UCA on Sunday, on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Sunday's championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the winner earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Scoring Summary

SLU – 4 1 – 5 (11-5-1, 5-4 SLC)

NSU – 1 0 – 1 (2-16, 0-9 SLC)

 

1:31 – SLU – Kristin McDonald (8) – Assist: Janae Sheldon

12:49 – SLU – Janae Sheldon (2) – Assist: Candice Wallace

15:08 – SLU – Natalie Santana (4) – Assist: Candice Wallace

23:34 – SLU – Meaghan Krawczyk (6) – Assist: Brittany Prieto

42:25 – NSU – Kandice Champagne (2) – Assist: Alicia Gautreau

80:56 – SLU – Dana Mayer (6) – Assist: Nicole Brannigan

 

Shots – Southeastern Louisiana 26, Nicholls State 7

Saves – Nicholls State 11, Southeastern Louisiana 4

Corner Kicks – Southeastern Louisiana 8, Nicholls State 1

Fouls – Nicholls State 6, Southeastern Louisiana 2

Offsides – Southeastern Louisiana 2, Nicholls State 0

 

Match 2 – No. 3 UTSA vs. No. 6 Northwestern State, 7 p.m.

Match 3 – Match 1 winner vs. No. 1 Texas State, 4:30 p.m.
Match 4 – Match 2 winner vs. No. 2 McNeese State, 7 p.m.