HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University senior forward
Hanna Moffatt scored a pair of goals to help the Lady Lion soccer team earn a key 2-1 Southland Conference victory over HCU Friday night in Strawberry Stadium.
The victory helped SLU (4-9, 3-4 SLC) take sole possession of fifth place in the league standings, breaking a four-way tie with HCU (4-9, 2-5 SLC), Northwestern State and UIW, who all lost Friday. The top seven teams advance to the Southland Conference Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 1-5 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
"Results haven't gone our way this season, but we've been playing better than our record indicates," Southeastern head coach
Nathan Gillespie commented. "We've done a good job separating ourselves from the other teams we were tied with. We have three games left and that's three opportunities to move up in the standings heading into the league tournament."
After an evenly-matched opening half, Southeastern took the lead in the final minute before the break.
Hannah McCord played a ball into the box and
Hailie Yoder headed in on frame. Moffatt was right there to knock the shot in from close range to give SLU a 1-0 lead with just 24 seconds left in the opening period.
"There's been multiple games this season where we're waiting for the end of the half and something happens out of nowhere," Gillsepie stated. "Today it went our way. We went into the half with confidence after breaking through with the first goal."
HCU evened the match just over 10 minutes into the second half. The Lady Lions were whistled for a handball inside the box and the Huskies were awarded with a penalty kick. Alexa Huerta converted and knotted the score, 1-1.
Southeastern answered in the 68
th minute.
Katie Brown played a ball ahead on right flank to an open Moffatt. The Rancho Cucamonga, California native ripped a shot from about 15 yards out to put SLU back on top, 2-1.
"I was really pleased with the grit and determination we showed, as we didn't allow ourselves to get deflated after the PK," Gillespie said. "We kept working and creating opportunities, which led to our second goal."
Moffatt's first multi-goal performance of the fall was the difference in Southeastern's victory.
"Hanna has a lot of experience and possesses a great ability to be strong, lead the line and bring other people into the attack," Gillespie commented. "She's fearless and aggressive. She was rewarded tonight for all the work she puts in."
The Southeastern defense was tested until the final whistle. SLU goalkeeper
Olivia Griffin turned away a pair of shots from close range by Katie Marker in the 85
th minute, then an attempt by Huerta off the rebound was blocked away by the Lady Lion back line.
With back-to-back wins to its credit for the first time this fall, Southeastern will return to action Sunday, traveling to Lake Charles for a 5 p.m. SLC match at McNeese. The game will air on ESPN+ and live stats will be accessible via the women's soccer schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
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 @Nathan90G on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow slusoccer on Instagram.
