Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. – Southeastern Louisiana senior Candice Wallace and freshman Karly Dagys both finished with a goal and two assists, as the Lady Lions maintained a share of the Southland Conference lead with a 5-0 victory over league foe Central Arkansas in women's soccer action Friday afternoon at Farris Field.

The victory allowed the Lady Lions (11-3-1, 5-0-1 SLC) to extend their current unbeaten streak to nine matches and remain undefeated in Southland action, as freshman Maiya Cooper, freshman Megan Miller and junior Natalie Santana also netted goals. Central Arkansas fell to 6-9-1 overall and 0-6 in league play.

The Lady Lions have now shutout their past four opponents and have a total of 10 shutouts on the season, behind the consistent play of senior Dana Mayer, junior Brittany Prieto, junior Nicole Brannigan and sophomore Kyle MacIntosh in the defensive backfield. Nine of the shutouts have been credited to sophomore goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus, who finished with five saves and lowered her goals against average to 0.53. In 34 career matches, the San Leandro, Calif. native has 18 shutouts and 100 saves.

Through 15 matches in 2009, Southeastern has outscored its opponents, 49-8. The five-goal deficit marked the largest Lady Lion victory over a Southland Conference opponent since a 7-0 win over Lamar in 2007.

“We were very pleased with our performance today in cold, windy conditions,” Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. “We felt like we were able to control every facet of the match and really put together a complete team effort. Now we have to focus on Sunday's match against a very talented Northwestern State team.

“Karly and Maiya were relentless up top and their ability to apply constant pressure was key,” Hornbuckle added. “The play of Candice and (freshman) Lauren Stillians was tremendous in the midfield and they played a huge role in allowing us to control the flow of play. Our entire back line was outstanding, especially Brittany, who did a nice job of getting us into our attack.”

Dagys staked Southeastern to an early lead with her fifth goal of the season in the 11th minute. Wallace found her for a close shot that got past UCA goalkeeper Kirby Huffstickler and put the Lady Lions on top, 1-0.

Southeastern turned to its leading scorer to double the lead with just under 20 minutes remaining in the opening period. Dagys played a cross to Cooper, who knocked in her team-high 13th goal of the season. Cooper is now tied with Southeastern Hall of Famer Becca Weingartner and former Lady Lion Wanda Regan for the fifth-most goals in a season in school history. Cooper's score also allowed her to match Weingartner and Regan's mark for the most single-season goals scored by a freshman in school history.

Cooper took the role of distributor to send Southeastern into the break with a three-goal advantage. Cooper got free on a breakaway and found an open Miller, who put in her second goal of the season to put the Lady Lions up, 3-0.

Any hope of a UCA comeback was dashed by Wallace two minutes into the second half. The Guelph, Ont. native secured a loose ball in the Central Arkansas box and netted her fifth goal of the year to push the Southeastern lead to 4-0.

Santana provided the exclamation point on the victory in the 80th minute. The Cypress, Calif. product scored her eighth goal of the year, completing a nice combination from Wallace and Dagys to provide the final margin.

In addition to moving up in the school's single-season goal rankings, Cooper pushed her season point total to 30, allowing her to move into sixth place on the school's single-season list. With her goal, Santana now has 26 points on the season – moving her past former Lady Lion Rebecca Glueck into ninth place on the program's single-season point list. Wallace also climbed up in the single-season rankings, as her eight assists on the year are tied for the fifth-most by a Southeastern player in a season.

Wallace and Santana both also continue to move up the school's career lists. With 60 career points, Wallace is now one point shy of breaking into the school's top five with Santana just behind her in seventh place with 54 career points.

Wallace's 19th career goal also moved her into a tie with former Lady Lions Cory Cochrane and Kim Kwolek for sixth place in school history, while Santana moved into a sole possession of ninth place on the list with the 17th goal of her career, breaking a tie with former teammate Kristin McDonald. With her two assists, Wallace now has 22 for her career, three off the school record of 25 held by Weingartner.

The Lady Lions will look to continue its current roll on Sunday, when they head to Natchitoches for a 1 p.m. match with Southland rival Northwestern State.