HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana senior forward Casey Peacock was all smiles Friday night.

    Peacock, who had missed the previous two seasons with injuries, scored twice and added an assist as the Lady Lions opened Southland Conference play with a 3-1 win over McNeese in Strawberry Stadium.

    "She's really back where she is most comfortable on the field and very productive on the field, too," Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. "She can play many different roles but up top is a great place for her."

    Peacock's goals were her first since she scored one in a 2-0 win over Incarnate Word on Sept. 27, 2013.The assist was her second of the season.

    Senior Amber Lasher got Southeastern on the board with her first goal of the season early in the second half. Senior Katie Noonan and sophomores Sofia Olsson and Vanessa Arzaluz also had assists for the Lady Lions (4-4-1, 1-0). Senior goalkeeper Hope Sabadash made eight saves.

    Kayla Goedicke scored for McNeese (3-4-0, 0-1). Savannah LaRicci had an assist. Annie Bravenec made two saves.

    With the match tied at 1, Peacock took a pass from Olsson at the top of the box and lined a shot in, putting Southeastern up 2-1 at the 65:43 mark.

    Sabadash saved a shot by LaRicci at the 68:41 mark. Sophomore Christina Cutura then just missed wide on a header off a corner kick by Arzaluz at 74:08.

    McNeese countered with Sara Ortiz missing wide on a breakaway at the 75:45 mark. Sabadash then grabbed a shot by LaRicci before coming out to make a sliding save on a breakaway by Goedicke at 81:38.

    After sophomore Payton Colson had a shot blocked wide, Arzaluz sent in a corner kick that was headed in by Peacock, extending Southeastern's lead to 3-1 at the 83:12 mark.

    Sabadash saved a pair of shots by Nikki Schaff and Goedicke in the final four minutes.

    Southeastern took a 1-0 lead when Noonan tossed in a long pass from the right sidelines. Peacock deflected it to Lasher who re-directed it into the left side of the net at the 16:17 mark of the first half.

    Sabadash dove on a shot by Ortiz at the 51:30 mark. But Goedicke then took a pass from LaRicci and converted to the left side for her second goal of the season to tie the match at 1 at the 53:24 mark.

    Sabadash made a diving save of a breakaway shot by Goedicke at the 55:33 mark.

     "I thought we did a really good job in the first half of keeping the ball out of our defensive third and were able to generate on the attack," Hornbuckle said. "We scored a goal fairly early into the match. In the second half, we knew they were going to come at us and they did. McNeese put a lot of pressure on us and we did a good job of collecting balls, winning second balls, and transitioning into a couple of goals."

    Southeastern opens a two-match Southland road swing next Friday at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.