Southeastern athletics are back with a bang this season as two of its programs this semester nab a Southland Conference championship. The SLC Champion Lady Lions soccer team traveled to the University of Nebraska on Friday, Nov. 15 for the first round of the NCAA Championship Soccer Tournament.
Ultimately, the Lady Lions lost their winning streak of seven matches and fell 4-0, but with a historic season behind them there are greener pastures ahead.
The No. 10 ranked University of Nebraska took out the Lady Lions. By the end of the first half, it was 2-0 and by the end of the second half it was 4-0.
“We were able to create some opportunities but were not able to capitalize,” said Head Coach Blake Hornbuckle in a post-game press release. “When playing a team the caliber of Nebraska, you have to have all the little things go in your favor, and those little things did not work out for us today. Hope Sabadash was tremendous in goal today, and we were also very pleased with the work rate of Alexsis Cable and Kelsey Salcido.”
The freshman goalkeeper Sabadash collected 13 saves for the Lady Lions this season. She also finished the game against Nebraska with nine saves in the opening half.
Hornbuckle is very proud of his team and their accomplishments. He has been coaching the Lady Lions for 16 seasons and this year was particularly special because of so many of the younger players who were able to experience championship level play so early on.
“We are very proud of what this year’s team was able to accomplish,” Hornbuckle said in a press release. “It was great for our young team to get their first NCAA Tournament experience, and hopefully we can learn from this and continue to grow our program.”