Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

BEAUMONT, Texas – Southeastern goalkeeper Nadine Maher made a diving save on the match's final play to send the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team to a remarkable victory over Northwestern State, 4-3 in penalty kicks, Tuesday in the first round of the 2020 Southland Conference Tournament at Lamar Soccer Complex.  
 
The match was scoreless as the Lady Lions (7-2-3) and Lady Demons (9-4-1) got set for penalty kicks. SLU's Emma Jones, Megan Gordon and Dalton Fish, all first team All-Southland selections, converted on their penalty kicks to give SLU a 3-2 lead.
 
Northwestern State was able to tie the penalty kick shootout at 3-3 after the Lady Lions missed their previous two attempts. The Lady Demons had a chance to win but Natalee Henry's shot was stopped by Maher to keep the match alive.
 
Moments later, SLU's Hanna Moffat converted to give the Lady Lions a 4-3 lead setting up the game's final showdown between Maher and Northwestern State's Kaymi Wheeler.
 
Wheeler's shot appeared to be ticketed for the bottom left corner of the net. But Maher, the Dublin, Ireland native, dove hard to her right and deflected the shot away to clinch the victory for the Lady Lions.
 
"I knew this was the one," said Maher. "I just kept reminding myself that whatever happens here to stay humble and that no matter what happens that the team has my back. But once I made that save, it was a moment that I've been dreaming about my whole life, to save the winning penalty kick. But at the same time, I didn't want to get too excited because I know the job isn't finished."
 
Southeastern finished the match with 12 shots, four on goal. Northwestern State had 10 shots with just one on target. The Lady Lions also had 12 corner kicks for the match while the Lady Demons had four.
 
"We started the game really well," said SLU head coach Chris McBride. "We felt as though we were prepared, but we put a little pressure on ourselves and we had to hang on at some moments in the second half."
 
With the win, SLU advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015. The win also extended Southeastern's unbeaten streak to nine (6-0-3), the longest streak in program history.
 
"At this point, it's one game at a time," said McBride. "We just need to keep the same focus we've had for the last nine games and hopefully this win gives us some momentum."

The Lady Lions will face top-seeded Stephen F. Austin (10-5-3, 8-3 Southland) in the semifinals Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. SFA defeated eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in penalty kicks, 4-2, to advance to the semifinals.
 
Thursday will mark the second meeting this season between the Lady Lions and Lady 'Jacks. SLU defeated SFA at home back on March 7 in double overtime, 2-1, as junior Jamie Raines scored in the 105^th minute.  
 
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.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.