HAMMOND, La. – The University of Incarnate Word's Keeley Ayala scored on a penalty kick with four seconds left in the first half as UIW defeated the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team, 1-0, Friday night at Strawberry Stadium.
 
The Lady Lions (1-7-1, 0-2 Southland) nearly took the lead early in the match when Brogan Bernadas, a sophomore from Covington, Louisiana, got a good look from 15 yards out. But UIW's goalkeeper, Cailey Croson, made a terrific save.
 
UIW (3-6-0, 2-0 Southland) and SLU battled through the remainder of the half as neither team was giving an inch.
 
However, in the waning second of the first half, SLU was whistled for a foul inside their own box leading to Ayala's six goal of the season after the penalty kick.
 
In the second period, things began to get feisty between the two teams. The Lady Lions and Cardinals combined for five yellow cards in the final 45 minutes.
 
"The young ladies we have on this team are going to fight for each and for the team," said third-year SLU soccer head coach Chris McBride. "And that was important for us because there is still a lot of games left and a lot of fight left in this team."
 
SLU nearly tied the match in the final 30 seconds. Freshman Ellie Williams got open right in front of the net leading to a frantic scramble between Williams and Croson less than 10 feet from the net. When the dust settled, somehow Croson was able to thwart off the game-tying goal attempt and the Cardinals hung on for the win.
 
"It was a really good first half for 44 minutes and 55 seconds," said McBride. "I thought we were looking good and then the penalty right before halftime was just a massive psychological battle and when they scored you are just fighting an uphill battle to pick yourself up and come out in the second half. I thought we did our best to do that but they (UIW) did a good job of slowing the game down tactically. And give them credit. But the penalty kick was really discouraging."
 
The Lady Lions finished with eight shots on goal to six for UIW. Croson finished with six saves for UIW while Southeastern's Nadine Maher had five saves.
 
Bernadas finished the match with four shots and three on goal while Williams had three shots on goal.
 
The Lady Lions will return to action Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they host reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Abilene Christian (5-2-1).
 
The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of Sunday's match. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions' Gameday Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern's YouTube channel (/SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku). 
 
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 @SLUSoccer and @chrismcbride88 on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.