BEAUMONT, Texas – Houston Baptist's Natalie Hager scored with less than a minute left in the second overtime to allow the Huskies to defeat Southeastern Louisiana in the first round of the Southland Conference Soccer Tournament Thursday evening at the Lamar Soccer Complex.
The heartbreaking loss ended the Lady Lions' season with a 12-8 overall record. Houston Baptist (9-6-4) advances to face No. 2 seed Sam Houston State in Friday's semifinal round at 4:30 p.m.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, Southeastern knotted the score on junior
Gisenia Utreras' fifth goal of the season midway through the second half. The team's remained deadlocked and the match looked destined to be decided on penalty kicks before Hager's last second goal.
Despite the loss, Southeastern head coach
Blake Hornbuckle was pleased with his team's efforts in their second meeting in five days with the Huskies. The closely contested match saw the SLU finish with a 27-22 shot advantage.
"We played well tonight but unfortunately the result didn't go our way," Hornbuckle said. "We owned the second half and created waves and waves of pressure, generating many opportunities.
"Gisenia was excellent for us tonight," Hornbuckle said. "We were very pleased with the efforts of
Cheyenne Maxwell in the midfield, as well as
Chelsea Villaescusa and
Jen Babcock in the back.
Bri Singh had another excellent night up top for us as well."
HBU took the lead late in the first half. Off an Ellee Hall corner, Blake Martin headed in a shot past SLU sophomore goalkeeper
Hope Sabadash to send the Huskies into the break with a one-goal advantage.
SLU knotted the score in the 65
th minute. Utreras sent a deflection past HBU goalkeeper Patty Walrath. The Brampton, Ontario native's score was the equalizer.
Southeastern continued on the attack with 13 shots in the second half and four more in overtime. With Walrath finishing with 10 saves and several other shots just missing, the Lady Lions were unable to find the net.
The Lady Lions looked destined to finish the match in penalty kicks, much like they did in the final two matches on the way to the 2013 Southland Conference Tournament title. However, a ball that was not fully cleared was served on frame by Casey Basso and Hager headed it in to advance the Huskies in the tournament.
Southeastern will have to replace All-Southland defenders Villaescusa and Babcock in 2015, but will be buoyed by the return of several injured players. SLU was without one of its top weapons in
Casey Peacock throughout 2014, while Sabadash missed eight matches due to injury. Southeastern was further depleted late in the season when All-Southland sophomore
Katie Noonan was sidelined for the final three matches. The return to full health of all three will help the Lady Lions to contend for a Southland title next season.
"We are definitely going to miss Jen and Chelsea's contributions," Hornbuckle said. "Chelsea was the top outside defender in our conference, so she will be difficult to replace. However, we're excited about the return of Casey, Hope and Katie to full strength, along with the further development of some of our young players. The future is bright for our program."
2014 Southland Conference Tournament – Nov. 6-9 – Beaumont, Texas First Round – Thursday, Nov. 6Match 1 – No. 3 Houston Baptist 2, No. 6 Southeastern Louisiana 1 (2 OT)Match 2 – No. 5 Nicholls 1, No. 4 McNeese State 0
Semifinals – Friday, Nov. 7Match 3 – Houston Baptist vs. No. 2 Sam Houston State, 4:30 p.m. (SLC DN)
Match 4 - Nicholls vs. No. 1 Stephen F. Austin, 7 p.m. (SLC DN)
Finals – Sunday, Nov. 9Match 5 – Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 1:05 p.m. (ESPN3)
