The Lady Lions utilized all of their weapons in order to beat the Sam Houston Bearkats, 1-0, at Friday’s game at Southeastern’s soccer complex.

After being asked who was today’s star, Coach Blake Hornbuckle replied, “Overall I think everyone’s performance today was pretty solid; a great team performance, but there are certain individuals that will shine—I think you can pick any of them that did a fantastic job.”

Sam Houston, about seven hours from home, were knocking on the door 10 minutes into the first half, but were unable to execute any goals.

Lauren Stillians and Karly Dagys, of the Lady Lions, worked together to create several strong offensive drives in the first half. Under a fairly clear sky, midway through the first half, a pass from Stillians allowed Dagys to shuffle the ball past two defenders and under falling goalkeeper, Jenny Pence, but was kicked shy of the goal. Stillians said that being a forward, Dagys likes the ball at her feet, opposed to the air, which is where she was able to send it against Sam Houston. Sam Houston showed speed, great ball control and was able to protect with goalkeeper Jenny Pence ending the game earning four saves; several of which were dives.

Natalie Santana of the Lady Lions said, “We shot a lot of quality goals in the right spots but if you are playing against a good goalkeeper it’s kind of expected, so you have to find ways around that; find her weakness.”

Ending the first half it looked like the Lady Lions had the upper hand, but the score remained 0-0, with the Lions having 7 shot attempts and the Bearkats 3.

The second half began with Journey’s, “Don’t Stop Believing,” playing from the sideline. Maiya Cooper must have felt the rhythm because she scored the only goal of the game, an off corner kick, with 30:06 remaining on the clock. She was assisted by Natalie Santana who ended the game tying the Southeastern Louisiana Conference record for career assist. Jenny Pence appeared to have blocked Cooper’s shot and Lady Lion fans stood in awe. It was ruled a goal moments later.

“It crossed the line when she kicked it out so it’s considered a goal. Only the linesman could see that because it went past the goalpost,” said Cooper.

The Lady Lions were unpredictable, managing to get players wide open, causing one on one situations that left the Bearkats unable to respond.

Cooper says that they struggled a lot last week in regards to teamwork and admits this week proves that it will help win games.  

Sam Houston answered back several times including one offensive drive, with about five minutes remaining, where Tricia Mallory head butted the ball, not far from the goal. Luckily for the Lions it went shy right because Lacey Bockhaus was far from protecting the goal.

Cambri Prevost, Kelsey Salcido , Cooper, and Santana all ended the game with more than one attempted shots at the goal, leaving the Lady Lions with 12 total shots and the Bearkats, 9.

Overall the players competed with a high level of sportsmanship on both sides of the field.

“I think sometimes it depends on the day the players play and you always want to compete respectfully. You want to play hard but fair,” says Hornbuckle.

Hornbuckle also said they are really looking to be of the top six in the conference and today’s game was a step towards that goal. Their next step will be the game against Stephen F. Austin.