Box Score HAMMOND – In a battle of two undefeated teams, the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team rolled to a 4-0 non-conference victory over Louisiana-Monroe Friday afternoon at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
The Lady Lions improved to 5-0 to start the season for the first time in school history, posting its fifth consecutive shutout – one off the school record. Louisiana-Monroe (4-1) was handed its first loss of the season and gave up its first four goals of 2014.
The match was delayed for nearly two hours early in the second half due to lightning in the area. When the teams returned to the field, Southeastern was able to pull away and the officials called the match with a little under 12 minutes left on the clock due to darkness.
Sophomore
Bri Singh scored two goals to run her season-high goal total to seven. Freshman
Maggie Ramsey added a goal and two assists, while sophomore
Amber Lasher scored a goal for the third straight match. Lasher and senior
Chelsea Villaescusa were both credited with goals.
Villaescusa, junior
Erin Christ, sophomore
Alexsis Cable and senior
Jen Babcock limited a ULM team that had scored 19 goals through the first four matches to just nine shots. Sophomore
Hope Sabadash, a AWK Golden Glove Award candidate, finished with five saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season and 14
th shutout of her career.
"We had a great start today and played at very good pace from the start and throughout the match," Southeastern head coach
Blake Hornbuckle said. "We did an excellent job of finishing the opportunities we created, especially in the first half. We were also proud of the way our team handled the long delay and kept mentally focused on the task at hand."
"Chelsea was the catalyst for us in the back and helped us get into the attack," Hornbuckle added. "
Katie Noonan and
Cheyenne Maxwell also helped us in the attack from their midfield roles and Maggie played exceptionally well with the ball at her feet. Bri continues to do a great job finishing and keeping possession. We were very pleased with the efforts of Amber both centrally and on the flank."
Southeastern took the lead for good in the 19
th minute. Ramsey beat her defender along the right flank and played a perfect cross to Lasher on the far post. The Norco, California native headed it right to an open Singh, who put the ball into the net from close range.
The Lady Lions doubled their lead less than seven minutes later. A foul on ULM gave Villaescusa a free kick from around midfield. The Cypress, California product placed the ball on frame and Ramsey was able to get enough of it to give Southeastern a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Nine minutes into the second half, lightning was detected in the area close enough to delay the match. When the teams returned, Southeastern was right back at it and quickly added to their lead in the 65
th minute Ramsey played a ball ahead to Singh and the Lancaster, California product beat ULM goalkeeper Samantha Moreno to give SLU a commanding 3-0 lead.
Lasher put the exclamation point on the victory in the 75
th minute. Villaescusa played a great ball on a corner kick that Moreno batted out of the box. Lasher gained control of the loose ball and drilled a shot inside the far post to provide the final 4-0 margin.
Southeastern, which has outscored opponents, 22-0, during its historic start will be back in action on Sunday, hosting Southern Miss at 4 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex. Fans can receive in-match updates via Twitter by following @SLUAthletics or @SLUSoccer.
