CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The top-seeded SFA Lumberjacks scored three first half goals to roll to a 3-1 victory over the No. 8 seed UTRGV Vaqueros in the opening contest of the 2024 Southland Soccer Championships at Dugan Soccer Stadium.

The win advances the Jacks into the semifinal where they will take on the winner over No. 4 Northwestern State and No. 5 Southeastern at 4 p.m. on Thursday. 

It was a 14-minute barrage of offense for SFA as Erin Morgan started the party in the 20th minute, gaining control and finding the back of the net off an Ava Shannon cross.

Just a mere five minutes later, the Lumberjacks struck again as Jayme Bailey put a shot towards the far side of the net that just went begging off the post, but Brielle Buchanan was there to clean it up and push the lead to 2-0.

In the 34th minute, Ella Morgan joined the fray with a beautiful goal to the far post to put the Jacks in total control. Kamryn Jiles and Maddie Bowers were credited with assists.

Erin and Ella are the first set of sisters to each score a goal in the conference tournament contest, dating back to 1997. 

With an uphill climb ahead, the Vaqueros sought to get back in the match and thought they had a breakthrough in the 74th minute when Rosie Train seemed to have gotten one back, but the offside flag negated the goal, even upon video review.

Linnea Eld added an Olimpico in the 89th minute, but it was too little, too late as SFA closed out a masterful performance to advance. 

For SFA, it was their 16th SLC Tournament win, the most in Conference history, and a return to the semifinals for the first time since 2020. The Lumberjacks seek their first tournament title since 2016 and the program's fourth overall.