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The defending Southland Conference Tournament Champion Southeastern Louisiana University women’s soccer team begins their quest to repeat Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when they take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the 2021 Southland Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament at Dr. Jack Dugan Track and Soccer Complex.

The fifth-seeded Lady Lions (6-8-3, 4-5-3 Southland) will look to ride their momentum from Friday’s 4-0 win over Nicholls on senior night.

But it’s been a bit of a roller coaster season for SLU. All five of Southeastern’s conference losses were by one goal, with four of them being by the same 1-0 score.

Prior to Southland play, the Lady Lions also had a 1-0 lead over 27th-ranked Arizona State with 10 minutes to go before ASU scored twice, including the game-winner in the final minute of regulation.

Following the loss to ASU, the Lady Lions came home and defeated Alcorn State, 11-0, back on Aug. 27^th which tied the largest margin of victory in program history (Alcorn State – 2006). However, due to Hurricane Ida’s direct impact on the SLU campus, the Lady Lions were forced to play eight straight matches on the road. Southeastern held strong, going 4-3-1 on the road trip while going 38 days (Aug. 28-Oct. 6) without a home game.

Despite the mixed results, the Lady Lions appear to be playing well entering the tournament as they outshot Nicholls, 21-3, last Friday night. SLU will also take the field Wednesday night with a five-match road unbeaten streak (4-0-1).

Southeastern also got good news earlier Tuesday as they had five players selected to the 2021 All-Southland Conference team, including Megan Gordon, Mya Guillory, Nadine Maher, Darby Gillette and Ellie Williams.

A&M-Corpus Christi (7-10-1, 5-6-1 Southland) enters the tournament as the fifth seed. The Islanders won the season series against SLU as the two teams tied 1-1 on Sept. 24 in Corpus Christi. However, the Islanders defeated the Lady Lions, 1-0, on Oct. 24 scoring in the final minute of the first half.

A&M-Corpus Christi is led by second team All-Southland forward Samantha Palomino. The redshirt junior scored six goals for the Islanders this year and led the team in shots (22) and shots on goal (18).

SLU and A&M-Corpus Christi have only met once in the Southland Tournament. In 2015, the Lady Lions defeated the Islanders 3-1 in the first round as SLU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 33 minutes of the match. Southeastern went on to win the Southland Tournament Championship that year.

The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will take on top-seeded Northwestern State (10-5-2, 10-2-0 Southland) Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.

Fans can follow Wednesday’s game as it will be streamed live on ESPN+. Video and live stat links will also be available at the Southeastern soccer schedule page located at 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 @chrismcbride88 on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.