Houston Baptist Opens Conference Tournament with 2-1 Win
BEAUMONT, Texas – In the opening match of the 2014 Southland Conference Soccer Tournament, No. 3 seed Houston Baptist scored in double overtime to defeat No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana at Lamar Soccer Complex on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
Houston Baptist’s Blake martin capitalized on a corner kick form Ellee Hall to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first half.
Southeastern Louisiana made it a tie ball game on a goal from Gisenia Utreras in the 46th minute of the second half.
With less than a minute to play Natalie Hager came through with a header to give Houston Baptist the lead, 2-1, and the win.
Southeastern Louisiana outshot Houston Baptist 27-22, but HBU’s goalkeeper Patty Walrath picked up 10 saves compared to SLU’s Hope Sabadash’s six saves.
The Lady Lions finish their season 12-8- 0 while the Huskies improve to 9-6-4. Houston Baptist advances to the semifinals of the conference tournament and will face No. 2 seed Sam Houston State tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
2014 Southland Soccer Tournament Post-Game Quotes
Match 1 – #3 Houston Baptist vs. #6 Southeastern Louisiana
Houston Baptist Head Coach Misty Jones
On overall thoughts on the win
“We knew Southeastern (Louisiana) would bring a good game. I give credit to them, I think they played very hard, very physical. It was a good game and I think it’s everything you could ask for a quarterfinal game. On our end we did not play our best soccer but you know, that’s kind of the game of soccer sometimes. I was proud of the girls who never gave up, we fought hard. It was fantastic getting the win.”
On preparation for tomorrow afternoon’s match against No. 2 seed Sam Houston State
“Resting, a lot. I mean at this point we played Sam Houston just a couple weeks ago to a 0-0 draw. It was a great game, they’re a very, very good team. They are very disciplined, have some good attackers, good at the back, they are a very well-rounded team. You know they are the No. 2 seed for a reason. We’re looking forward to it, it’s exciting to be here. Definitely we wanted to make it in to the semifinal game. Now, of course our goal is to win the game and make it to the championship game. Sam will bring a great game, we know that so for us right now our strategy is rest. You know carb-load tonight I guess, get a good night’s sleep and just come out and ready to play.”
Houston Baptist Forward Natalie Hager
On thought process the last few seconds before scoring the game-winning goal
“Honestly, didn’t want it to go into PK’s I don’t think anyone does. Saw the cross coming, went up for the header, saw it go in the back of the net. I was so relieved. I’m happy we were able to play through and get the win in the end.”
On mindset/preparation for tomorrow’s match against Sam Houston State
“Go in with a strong first half. For me seeing the look on Southeastern’s (Louisiana) face after the game, that’s like a wake-up call for us. It’s you win, you stay; you lose, go home and we don’t want to go home so we’re gonna play tough and come out with a win.”
Southeastern Louisiana Head Coach Blake Hornbuckle
On overall thoughts of game
“I thought we really had a complete game tonight, just a little bit of unfortunate play there at the end. The ball came in, got bounced around a little bit and slipped into the net to decide the game. We had a lot of opportunities, we really put pressure on them (Houston Baptist) and somebody has got to advance in a game like this and unfortunately it was not us. We just have to work to see what we have to do to get back here next year.”
On any positive takeaways from game
“Oh yeah, so many positives. We had the play of Hope Sabadash, we’re happy to get her back. Gisenia Ultreras had a great day on the left flank. Overall everyone played a very solid game for us.”