Box Score

HAMMOND – The showdown between the last two undefeated teams in the Southland Conference lived up to its billing, as Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State battled to a 0-0 tie in women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at the STYSA Soccer Fields.

The Lady Lions (10-3-1, 4-0-1 SLC) and visiting Bobcats (10-5-1, 5-0-1 SLC) both had their respective seven-match winning streaks snapped, but increased their respective unbeaten streaks to eight. The evenly-played match saw both teams attempt nine shots.

The defensive efforts of both teams were excellent. Both the Lady Lions and Bobcats feature dynamic scoring duos in freshman Maiya Cooper (12 goals) and junior Natalie Santana (seven goals, Southland-high 10 assists) of Southeastern and Britney Curry (Southland-high 15 goals) and Erica Michaud (seven goals, five assists) of Texas State, but the respective defensive backfields were able to keep the high-powered weapons in check.

Both goalkeepers made several key saves to preserve the scoreless tie. Southeastern sophomore Lacey Bockhaus (three saves) posted her eighth shutout of the season, while Mandi Mawyer (five saves) recorded her sixth shutout of the year for Texas State.

“Every time we play Texas State, it's going to be a very competitive, well-played match and today was no different,” Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. “We had some opportunities in the final minutes of regulation that we were a little disappointed that we couldn't finish, but credit their goalkeeper for making several great saves.

“Our defensive backfield was tremendous today against a very dangerous Texas State attack,” Hornbuckle added. “Dana Mayer, especially, was outstanding in the back and did a great job winning balls and getting us into our attack. Lacey came up big when it counted, making two tough saves in the final overtime.”

Both teams had several near misses in regulation, but Southeastern had the best two opportunities in the waning minutes of the second half. First, Mawyer stopped a free kick by Santana, but the ball rolled from her grasp and sophomore Kyle MacIntosh hit a shot on the rebound that rolled just wide.

Later in the half, senior Gloria Burkhart served a corner kick that Texas State cleared, but Burkhart ran down the loose ball and drilled a shot off the crossbar. Mawyer made a diving stop on MacIntosh's follow to force overtime.

Texas State mounted two big threats in the second overtime. First, Michaud got free near the beginning of the extra period, but her shot when straight into Bockhaus' hands. The match featured a dramatic climax, as Curry broke through with about a half minute to play, but Bockhaus turned away her shot with a sliding stop to preserve the tie.

The Lady Lions will be back in action on Friday, heading to Central Arkansas for a 4 p.m. contest in Conway, Ark.