Although the Lady Lions were not able to capitalize on attempted shots last game against Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns, they gave a dominant performance on Sunday, Sept. 24, beating Grambling Tigers, 8-1.

The Lady Lions showed many improvements that contributed to their win including a variety of defense calls, offensive onside strategies and an aggressive approach. Karly Dagys, a sophomore forward, lit the fuse around nine minutes into the first half, scoring her first goal of the season. Dagys showed great effort, taking all of the necessary risks to score, including seven of Southeastern’s 20 attempts at the goal. Dagys also ended the game with four assists, tying Southeastern’s school record.

“It has been a struggle for me this season, but I have been working out to get a peek performance and I was pretty close to it,” said Dagys.

Head coach Blake Hornbuckle was complimentary of Dagys’ performance.

“We were really happy for her to get the goal, initially to open the game up,” said Hornbuckle. “She stretched their defense out by getting behind them a few times. She also did a great job with distribution. We are really pleased with her efforts today.”

Maiya Cooper and Cambri Prevost both scored goals in the first half, making the score 3-0, Lady Lions. Though they were dominant in the first half, Grambling did show off some power. Luckily for Southeastern, the defense and goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus were in the backfield. Southeastern was double-teaming opponents at will whereas Grambling stuck mostly with man-to-man coverage.

“They did a very good job of winning balls in the air and not letting Grambling get in on top,” said Dagys. “They were solid back there.”

The Lady Lions defense did not allow Grambling many visits to the goal, but they still ended the half with four attempts, all saved by Bockhaus.

Before the second half began, the Lions came out confident but were surprised when an assist from Grambling’s Ashley Baker allowed Anita “Alexis” Dominique to score with 34:46 still remaining on the clock. Nine seconds later, Southeastern’s Cooper scored, once again handing the momentum over to the Lions. Grambling was unable to execute goals for the rest of the game. The Tigers gave a great effort in the second half but were overwhelmed by Southeastern’s speed and ball control.

“They are a very physical team, so we were mainly preparing for their offside shot trap team, so most of our practice this weekend was basically keeping onside—not being able to be caught behind the line,” said Cooper. “It worked really well because it kept the game flowing.”

Prevost and Cooper ended the game with three goals, and Prevost had an assist as well.

The Lady Lions will be playing their next game at McNeese State in Lake Charles at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1.