Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

BEAUMONT, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team punched their ticket to the 2020 Southland Conference Championship game after defeating top-seeded Stephen F. Austin, 2-0, Thursday in the semifinals at Lamar Soccer Complex.
 
The Lady Lions (7-2-4) ran their unbeaten streak to 10 as SLU advanced to the title game for the first time since 2015. Southeastern will take on Sam Houston in Saturday's title game as the Bearkats defeated Abilene Christian in the second semifinal Thursday, 1-0.
 
SLU has posted six shutouts in their last seven games led by senior goalkeeper Nadine Maher. The Dublin, Ireland native finished Thursday's match against SFA with four saves to help secure the shutout.
 
Southeastern got on the board in the 33^rd minute as sophomore Ellie Williams scored on a great lead pass from senior Megan Gordon. The Lady Lions nearly scored again moments later as sophomore Mya Guillory's shot hit the post from 20 yards out. SLU led 1-0 at halftime.
 
In the second half, SFA opened on the attack as they got two shots on goal in the first five minutes. However, the stingy SLU defense refused to cave in as they held strong against the Lumberjacks' attack.
 
The Lady Lions regained the momentum as they continued to apply pressure to the SFA backline tallying eight corner kicks for the match.
 
With the defense continuing their dominance and the Lady Lions' offense on the attack, freshman Hailie Yoder punched in her first goal of the season in the 73rd minute on an assist from Guillory making it 2-0 SLU.  Southeastern remained on the attack for the remainder of the match as they cruised their way into the conference title game knocking off the Lumberjacks, the regular season Southland champions.
 
"I thought we executed very well all day," said SLU head coach Chris McBride. "We wanted to see what they were going to do with their forwards and midfielders to see exactly how we wanted to attack. But I thought we stuck to the game plan on both sides of the ball the entire game."
 
The Lady Lions outshot the Lumberjacks, 16-15, and finished with eight corner kicks to just one for SFA.
 
Williams and Makenzie Maher led the Lady Lions with four shots each while Guillory, Yoder and Hitomi Konno each had two.
 
Southeastern's showdown with Sam Houston is set for 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon as a ticket to the NCAA Tournament is up for grabs.
 
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.