HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team will look to head into the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament with momentum, as it closes out the regular season with a pair of matches.
On Sunday, the Lady Lions (13-3-1, 7-2 Southland) will close out its home schedule and celebrate Senior Day, when they host Houston Baptist (5-11-1, 4-6 Southland) at 1 p.m. Seniors
Kelsey Salcido and
Shanyce Shaw will be honored prior to Sunday's match.
Southeastern starts the week with a 4 p.m. road match at Nicholls State (11-5-1, 5-5 Southland) on Friday. Live stats for Friday's match, provided by Nicholls, will be accessible at LionSports.net.
Southeastern has already secured its eighth consecutive Southland Conference Tournament berth. The Lady Lions are battling Oral Roberts for the second seed and a first round bye in next week's tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday in Lake Charles. Southeastern is a half-game behind ORU, which has one match remaining. Should the team's finish in a tie, Southeastern would receive the higher see based on a 1-0 win on Oct. 13.
The Lady Lions have won five of their last six heading into the regular season's final weekend. Last Sunday, freshman
Amber Lasher scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 overtime victory for Southeastern at Sam Houston State.
Salcido and sophomore
Casey Peacock share the team lead with seven goals each. Freshman Brianna Singh follows with six goals, while freshman
Katie Noonan has accounted for four of the team's 37 goals this season.
Salcido is also the team's top distributor, sharing the Southland lead with eight assists on the year. Peacock and junior
Chelsea Villaescusa follow with four assists apiece, while Noonan, Lasher, sophomore
Kayla Vera and sophomore
Cheyenne Maxwell all have three assists.
The Southeastern back line of Shaw, Villaescusa, sophomore
Erin Christ and freshman
Alexsis Cable has been dominant, holding opponents to just eight goals this season. Freshman
Hope Sabadash has been rock solid in goal for the Lady Lions, leading the Southland with eight shutouts and a 0.48 goals against average.
Nicholls State is trying to return to the postseason after a lengthy absence. The Colonels are fueled by the league's top scorer in sophomore forward Spencer Valdespino, who leads the team with 13 goals and five assists. Junior Amanda Boylson (1.74 GAA) and freshman Taylor Mosley (1.41 GAA) have handled the majority of the goalkeeping duties.
Southeastern has won all 22 previous meetings with Nicholls State. Last season, the Lady Lions won 1-0 in Thibodaux.
HBU, which plays Sam Houston State on Friday, is also fighting to make the postseason. The Huskies are led by sophomore Rebekah Tovar, who has netted a team-high four goals. Junior Stephanie Castellon (0.77 GAA) and junior Patty Walrath (1.11 GAA) have backed a stingy HBU defense.
Southeastern lost its first ever meeting with Houston Baptist last season. HBU earned a 1-0 victory in Hammond in 2012.
