HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore Sofia Olsson broke the ice early and freshman Amber Marinero and senior Casey Peacock added goals as the Lady Lions took a key Southland Conference victory, 3-0, over Sam Houston State Friday night in Strawberry Stadium.

    Southeastern (6-7-2, 3-3-1) picked up three points in the race for the conference tournament on Sam Houston (2-12-1, 2-4-1), which had come in tied with the Lady Lions for the fifth spot.

    "But the work is not done," Southeastern interim head coach Matt Muia said. "The guarantee to get in is still not there and we have to keep fighting and go for another three points on Sunday."

    Southeastern will close out the two-match homestand against Stephen F. Austin Sunday at 1 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video of the match at www.LionSports.net. Live stats will also be available on the website. Admission is free to all Southeastern home matches.

    Olsson scored her team-leading sixth goal in the third minute for Southeastern. Marinero scored her first career goal in the 37^th minute while Peacock connected on her third goal of the season in the 67^th minute. Peacock also had her team-high fourth assist while junior Lauren Babcock had her third and sophomore Payton Colson her first. Senior Hope Sabadash made four saves.

    Freshman Anna Kaiser collected nine saves for Sam Houston. Freshman Taylor Pritchard and sophomore Bailey Strong each took two shots.

    Sabadash made a save against senior Madison Cannon in the opening minute. Peacock then sent a through ball to Olsson who collected it in the right side of the box before angling a shot in to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.

    "We always talk about getting a goal early and setting the tone for the game," Muia said. "Giving us something to fight for the rest of the game and tonight we finally broke through and had that goal early."

    Sabadash dove to stop a shot by Pritchard in the eighth minute. Kaiser saved an attempt by Colson in the 26^th minute before Sabadash made another diving stop against freshman Kaylee Davis in the 36^th minute.

    A minute later, Babcock sent in a direct kick from midfield. Marinero headed in a deflection, extending the lead to 2-0.

    Kaiser picked up two more saves in the opening minutes of the second half before Marinero hit the far post in the 52^nd minute. Peacock would capitalize in the 67^th minute, lining in a shot from the box after taking a pass from Colson.

    "We knew they were going to have to come out and chase the game in the second half and we wanted to make sure we picked the right chances going forward so we could capitalize on another one and solidify the win," Muia said.

    Kaiser dove to her left to stop a penalty kick by freshman Ylva Svendsen in the 72^nd minute. She made another diving save against junior Kim Porche in the final minute.