HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team will look to continue its outstanding Southland Conference start, when it travels to face a pair of league foes on the road this week.
 
The Lady Lions (9-1, 2-0 Southland) will open the week on Friday with a 7 p.m. match at Incarnate Word (0-8, 0-1 Southland). On Sunday, SLU travels to Abilene Christian (4-6, 1-1 Southland) for a 1:30 p.m. contest. Live stats and live video for both matches, provided by the host institutions, will be accessible at LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern opened up league play with a pair of victories. In their most recent action, the Lady Lions saw junior Kayla Vera score an early goal in a 1-0 victory over McNeese State. The back line of senior Chelsea Villaescusa, junior Erin Christ, sophomore Alexsis Cable and senior Jen Babcock limited MSU to five shots, as sophomore goalkeepers Hope Sabadash and Casey Jeanfreau split time in net in the shutout.
 
SLU has seen 13 different players account for the team's 38 goals. Sophomore Bri Singh leads the team with 10 goals scored. Freshman Maggie Ramsey follows with six goals, while Vera has five. Junior Gisenia Utreras, junior Cheyenne Maxwell and sophomore Amber Lasher each have three goals.
 
Sophomore Katie Noonan has been the team's top distributor with nine assists – the seventh-highest single-season total in school history. Ramsey follows with five assists, while Utreras has four.
 
Villaescusa, Christ, Cable and Babcock have helped Southeastern hold opponents to five goals this season. Sabadash, an AWK Golden Glove Award candidate, has handled the majority of work in the net for SLU and enters the weekend with a 0.54 goals against average.
 
Incarnate Word will be looking for its first win of the season. Senior Sarah Johnson and sophomore Alexis Santos share the team lead with two goals each. Junior Karly Brightwell (3.56 GAA), junior Heather Kowalik (2.00 GAA) and freshman Hailey Nelson (2.00 GAA) have split time in net.
 
Last season, Southeastern defeated UIW, 2-0, in Hammond. Maxwell led SLU to victory with a goal and an assist.
 
Abilene Christian, which hosts Nicholls on Friday, is led by freshman Baylee Mitchell, who has a team-high five goals. Sophomore Natalie Throneberry has a team-high three assists. Sophomores Kelsey Dombrowski (1.40 GAA) and Sydney Newton (1.52 GAA) have shared time in goal. ACU defeated SLU, 1-0, in Hammond last season.
 
This weekend's action will be the start of a three-game road trip for the Lady Lions. Southeastern will travel to Lamar next Sunday for a 1 p.m. match in Beaumont, Texas.