HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana soccer team will close out the 2012 regular season and celebrate Senior Day on Friday, when it hosts Northwestern State at 3 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
 
The Lady Lions (10-6-1, 4-2-1 Southland) have already clinched a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament, which starts next Thursday in Lake Charles. Northwestern State (6-10-1, 1-5-1 Southland) has been eliminated from postseason contention.
 
Prior to the match, Southeastern will honor the largest senior class in program history. Seniors Maiya Cooper, Lacey Bockhaus, Karly Dagys, Lauren Stillians, Kerry McWhirter, Megan Miller, Sam McNally, Cassie Northrup, Kailey Mills, Tabitha McReynolds and Dana Songe will be honored in a pre-match ceremony that begins at 2:45 p.m.

Friday will mark the first “Swabbin' for Robin” event on the Southeastern campus. Southeastern alumna and Good Morning America host Robin Roberts is recovering from a life-saving bone marrow transplant to battle the blood disorder Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Robin was fortunate because her sister, Sally-Ann, was a "match" and could give marrow for the transplant. Many others are not so lucky and may wait for years to find a match from the national donor database. This database is a life line to those who need marrow transplants for leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other blood diseases. Many more donors are needed.
 
To honor Robin, Sally-Ann and many others who are fighting against these diseases as patients and donors, Southeastern Louisiana University is launching "Swabbin' for Robin", a campaign to register prospective donors for the National Marrow Donor Program database. Through a partnership with Be The Match, a national non-profit organization that administers the database/registry, Southeastern will work to add donors through "swabbing" events over the course of the 2012-13 academic year, starting with Friday's match.

A campus-wide group of Southeastern students is working closely with campus administrators to focus on educating the campus and the regional community about the critical need for prospective marrow donors. The focal point of the effort is a series of nearly 20 events at which people can be swabbed for DNA and entered into the bone marrow database. Swabbing is quick, easy and painless--donors simply swab themselves on the inside of the mouth with large swabs provided in individual kits.

Southeastern heads into Friday's regular season finale on a three-match winning streak, having shutout its last three opponents. On Sunday, McWhirter and sophomore Jen Babcock each scored goals in a 2-0 win at Oral Roberts. Bockhaus, who finished with seven saves, was named the Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for the second straight time, while junior Shanyce Shaw was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week after their efforts in Sunday's victory.

Cooper leads Southeastern with 10 goals on the season, followed by McWhirter, freshman Kayla Vera and junior Kelsey Salcido with four goals apiece. Vera also leads the team with six assists, while McWhirter has dished out four on the year.

Shaw, freshman Cheyenne Maxwell and sophomore Chelsea Villaescusa, among others, have helped the Lady Lions turn the corner defensively. After allowing seven goals in the first two league matches, Southeastern has allowed just one goal in its past five matches and has posted a 3-1-1 record during that stretch.

The play of the back line has been buoyed by the efforts of Bockhaus in net. The Southland Conference's career shutout leader enters Friday's match with a 0.99 goals against average and eight shutouts this season.

Northwestern State snapped a five-match losing streak with a 2-1 win over Nicholls State on Sunday. Junior Yanci Johnson leads the team with six goals, followed by junior Ashlee Savona's five goals and team-high four assists. Freshman Brooke Bourbonais (2.00 GAA) has handled the majority of the work in the net for the Lady Demons.

Southeastern is 18-10-1 all-time versus Northwestern State and has won the last two meetings. Last season, Cooper, Salcido and McWhirter all found the net in a 3-1 win in Natchitoches.

The matchups and match times for the Southland Conference Tournament will be released late Friday night. Check LionSports.net for the most up-to-date information.