Southeastern Louisiana Wins Southland Soccer Tournament
NATCHITOCHES, La. - For the first time in school history, Southeastern Louisiana earned a berth in the NCAA Championships with a 2-0 victory over Texas State in the Southland Conference Tournament championship match Sunday afternoon at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.
Making their eighth appearance in the Southland tournament championship match, the Lady Lions (13-4-2) won their second conference tournament crown in school history and first since 1998. When the Lady Lions first won the tournament title, the Southland didn't receive an automatic bid.
Southeastern picked up goals from junior Natalie Santana and freshman Karly Dagys and got another tremendous effort from its defense, which has allowed only nine goals and tied the Southland Conference record with its 13th shutout victory. Southeastern sophomore goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus earned Tournament MVP honors after securing her 12th shutout of the season and finishing with six saves. Bockhaus, Dagys and Santana were joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Kyle MacIntosh and Maiya Cooper.
In the 11th minute, Santana gave the Lady Lions an early lead, netting a high shot over a leaping Mandi Mawyer after a pass from sophomore Lauren Stillians.
Texas State's Britney Curry - the Southland Conference Player of the Year - nearly knotted the score several minutes later. Bockhaus made a diving stop and was able to run down a loose ball to preserve the Southeastern lead.
Texas State had another good chance near the end of the half, as Taylor Pearson hit a shot from just outside of the Southeastern box, but Bockhaus was in good position to snuff it out.
Neither team could get anything going for the rest of the half, as Southeastern maintained the 1-0 advantage into the break.
Curry nearly put Texas State on the board again midway through the second half. The speedy Bobcat junior streaked to the goal, but her shot sailed just wide right.
Bockhaus had to make a pair of outstanding saves in the final minutes to keep Texas State off the score. First, she out jumped Person on a corner kick and then saved a Pearson shot.
Southeastern secured the win in the final minute. Bockhaus drilled a deep punt over the heads of Texas State, which Dagys ran down and sent past a diving Mawyer to clinch the win.
Southeastern will find out its NCAA Tournament destination on Monday. The selection show will be broadcast on ESPN News at 8 p.m. ET.
Highlights:
Post match Quotes:
Southeastern Louisiana Coach Blake Hornbuckle
This is a tremendous moment for our program. We've waited a long time to reach the NCAA Championships, but this feeling makes it all worth the wait. Our student-athletes have worked so hard and we're so proud to see them earn this well-deserved award against a very talented and well coached Texas State team.
We did a masterful job defensively today and Lacey was outstanding in the net. Karly and Maiya put a lot of pressure on them up top and we just put together an outstanding team effort today. It's a great day to be a Lion.
Southeastern Louisiana Sophomore Lacey Bockhaus
We had a total team effort throughout the season and it was no different today. We've had each other's backs all year and we won as a team.
Texas State Coach Kat Conner
You never like to lose, especially since we were on such a great run. But Southeastern Louisiana came out and played a great game. They deserved the win because they played a good game.
Lacey played a great game. She made a lot of phenomenal stops. There were a couple we thought we could squeak by the post, but we have to make the extra effort to put the ball in there, and we just didn't give that effort.
Texas State Junior Britney Curry
It was definitely an emotional game. We wanted to win it for our seniors. We had a really good run, being undefeated for the past two seasons. It's an especially tough loss because the type of game it was the first time we played them. It was a great match and they came out to play. We did too; we just didn't finish our chances.
We knew Lacey was a good goalie. I think with the anticipation, thinking Lacey was going to make every save, we didn't follow up the way we should've.
All-Tournament Team
Lacey Bockhaus, Southeastern Louisiana (MVP)
Maiya Cooper, Southeastern Louisiana
Karly Daigys, Southeastern Louisiana
Kyle Macintosh, Southeastern Louisiana
Natalie Santana, Southeastern Louisiana
Britney Curry, Texas State
Kelsey Bernard, Texas State
Alissa Scott, Texas State
Andrea Grifo, Texas State
Shelby Grissett, Sam Houston State
Kylie Louw, Stephen F. Austin