HAMMOND, La. – With just one week remaining until the regular season opener, the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team looked in midseason form in Friday's 2-0 exhibition win over UL Lafayette at Strawberry Stadium.
 
SLU came out on the attack offensively as they attacked the Ragin' Cajuns back line in the first of three 30-minute periods.  Sophomore Claire Huston battled in for a shot in heavy traffic 15 feet out but missed just right.  The 2018 All-Southland Conference honorable mention helped set the tone for the rest of the match.
 
With both teams playing relentless on the defensive end in the second period, the Lady Lions broke through just seconds into the third period. Freshman Ellie Williams scored on a picture perfect assist from freshman Mya Guillory who lofted it over two defenders right to the feet of Williams for the goal.
 
"Ellie had the best incoming physical condition of the freshmen this year," said third-year SLU soccer head coach Chris McBride. "She got the goal and showed her ability but the pass from Mya was incredible. It's one of the toughest balls to play and she did it beautifully."
 
Later in the period, sophomore Darby Gillette sprinted down the middle of the field outrunning the defense. The Meridian, Mississippi native, finished it off punching it in to the back of the net for the Lady Lions' second goal.
 
"It's a new mentality that we've seen in previous years for this group," said McBride. "And I think we saw that tonight. I thought the first 30 (minutes) was really strong as well as the middle 30 and then the final 30 I think we showed the condition and ability that we have to control the game. But overall both sides of the ball was really good. We've been working on box-to-box and what we are doing in the middle part of the field. So now this week we just have to work on what we are doing inside the opposition's box and our own defensive box."
 
The Lady Lions will now turn their attention to next weekend with a pair of non-conference home matches to open the season. SLU will host Louisiana Tech Friday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. and then will take on ULM Sunday Aug. 25 at 5 p.m.
 
"We've got the next seven days to go back and get refreshed and prepared for Louisiana Tech," said McBride. "It was good that we got a chance to see everyone play tonight and we got to see what we are capable of and we got to see what we've got to fix and that's what the exhibition games are for. You want to see the good things you've been working on but you also want to get exposed a little bit so you can correct what you need to correct leading into the non-conference and then conference schedule. But we will get to work this week and put in a good game plan and hopefully come out Friday and perform well."
 
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
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