HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions were not ready for their season to end Friday night.

    Sophomore Christina Cutura, freshman Linda Karlsson and junior Maddie Kresevic scored goals as the Lady Lions celebrated Senior Night by clinching their 11^th straight Southland Conference Tournament appearance, 3-0, over Nicholls in Strawberry Stadium.

    "It was a big night," Southeastern interim head coach Matt Muia said. "We knew it was a must-win game going into it and our girls just stepped up and answered in a big way. It's just a great feeling to have, ending with a win at home at the end of the year.

    Southeastern (7-10-2, 4-6-1), which snapped a three-match losing streak, will be the fifth seed in the conference tournament and will play fourth-seeded Houston Baptist (7-10-1, 5-5-1) in the opening round, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas.

    Seniors Casey Jeanfreau, Amber Lasher, Lauren Lorentz, Katie Noonan, Marisa Rodrigues, Casey Peacock and Hope Sabadash were honored before Friday's match.
Kresevic scored her third goal of the season while Cutura and Karlsson both got their second. Peacock picked up her team-high fifth assist while junior Lauren Babcock got her fourth. Freshman Amber Marinero recorded her first collegiate assist. Sabadash made four saves as the Lady Lions held Nicholls (6-8-2, 3-6-2) to 10 shots in recording their fifth shutout of the season.

    "It was an unbelievable defensive effort tonight," Muia said. "We went back and looked at some film from the last couple of losses and tries to fix some things we were struggling in and tried to tighten up those areas."

    Lasher tied the school record by playing in her 81^st career game, equaling the mark set by Cheyenne Maxwell from 2012-15.

    Nicholls got six saves from freshman Roosa Hurmerinta. Freshman Elisabet Gunnthorsdottir had a team-high three shots, two on goal. Senior Jess Coates put both her shots on net.

    After Hurmerinta made three early saves, Cutura broke the stalemate by taking a corner from Babcock and lining a shot in in the 30^th minute.

    "It did take some pressure off of us," Muia said of the goal. "We kept chasing and got our goal and that changed their game plan and kind of opened the game up for us." 

    Sabadash knocked away a shot by Gunnthorsdottir in a scramble in front in the 39^th minute.

    Sophomore Sofia Olsson hit the post on a shot for Southeastern in the 47^th minute. But in the 64^th minute, Peacock launched a throw-in into the box that deflected off Marinero. Karlsson headed the deflection into the right side of the net, making it 2-0.

    Kresevic completed the scoring in the 76^th minute after collecting the ball in a scramble and beating Humerinta to the right side of the net.

    "Persistence was the key to breaking through," Muia said of the second-half goals. "We tried and tried and tried and finally got the second one and third one. To get those two to seal it was a huge whole-team effort."

    Sabadash made a diving save to deny a shot by Gunnthorsdottir in the 83^rd minute. Gunnthorsdottir then hit the far post in the closing seconds.