HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team will hit the road this weekend in search of their first conference victory when they face Houston Baptist Friday at 7 p.m. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
The Lady Lions (1-8-1, 0-3 Southland) are coming off a pair of heartbreaking losses last weekend at home. SLU lost to University of Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian by the same, 1-0 score.
 
Southeastern fell Friday to UIW when the Cardinals scored on a penalty kick with four seconds left in the first half. The Lady Lions were snake bitten, once again, Sunday as ACU edged SLU scoring on a header with just 12 seconds left in regulation. Southeastern has now lost four matches, 1-0, this season including three in conference.
 
The Lady Lions remain optimistic heading into the weekend under third-year SLU soccer head coach Chris McBride.
 
"We just need to continue to work hard and get better every day," said McBride. "We made one mistake on Sunday and our opposition capitalized on it. Our performances have continually improved and we need to continue to do what we've been doing."
 
SLU is led by goalkeeper Nadine Maher. The junior is tied for second in the Southland Conference with 50 saves. The Dublin, Ireland native has 142 saves for her career in 26 matches.
 
Offensively, freshman Ellie Williams has led the charge for SLU. The Frisco, Texas product leads the Lady Lions with two goals, 14 shots and nine on goal. Sophomore Paityn Brtezer has contributed with two assists
 
The Lady Lions turn their attention to Friday's opponent, HBU (1-9-0, 0-3 Southland). The two teams faced off last year in Hammond with HBU winning 2-1.
 
The Huskies, like the Lady Lions, have a deceiving record after facing a difficult non-conference schedule that included 17^th-ranked TCU and 2018 NCAA tournament qualifier, North Texas.
 
Following Friday's match, SLU will make the 200-mile drive to Corpus Christ, Texas to face the Islanders (4-5-1, 1-1-1 Southland). A&M-Corpus Christi lost at UIW, 1-0, defeated Stephen F. Austin, 3-0 and tied Sam Houston State 1-1 all on the road in conference.
 
The Islanders are led by Abby Deakin. The junior from Broomfield, Colorado has four goals on the season including 18 shots and 11 on goal. However, A&M-Corpus Christi features a balanced offensive attack with 10 players attempting five shots or more.
 
"I expect both matches this weekend to be close," said McBride. "Both of these teams are tough to plan for."
 
SLU leads the all-time series with the Islanders 5-1-1 including a 1-0 win at home last year.
 
Fans can follow both Friday and Sunday's matches by going to the Southeastern soccer schedule page at LionSports.Net. Twitter updates will also be available @LionUpSoccer throughout both matches.

SCORE ONE MORE CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the women's soccer program are encouraged to join the Score One More Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Score One More Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern soccer program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Soccer, follow @LionUpSoccer and @chrismcbride88 on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.