The Lamar soccer team defeated the Texas A&M- Corpus Christi Islanders, 6-1, Sunday, at the LU Soccer Complex in their final home game of the season. The Lady Cards move to 11-4-2 (7-1-2 Southland Conference).
“I feel great to get the win,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “To get six goals against a Southland Conference team is fantastic. It was a nice win for us.”
The Lady Cardinals struggled in the beginning of the game as the Islanders scored in the 21st minute when Dana Curtis took a pass from Reaghan Lang to shoot past keeper LU Sandra Nygard who was out of position after supporting the Cardinal attack.
However, the Lady Cardinals struck back 15 minutes later when sophomore forward Lucy Ashworth dribbled the ball down the middle of the field, turned, and fired the shot past Lady Islanders keeper Kyleigh Hall to make the score 1-1 at the half.
“We were not very pleased with our performance in the first half,” Holeman said. “I have to give credit to A&M-Corpus Christi who came out aggressively. That goal that we allowed woke us up a bit, and though we managed to tie it up at half time we felt like we were not giving our best.”
The Lady Cards returned in the second half ready to play as they claimed their first lead when sophomore forward Madison Ledet found Ashworth on the left wing. She fired in a cross to senior forward Kelso Peskin to headed in from point-blank range. Lamar added to its lead 10 minutes later when Peskin fired it from 25-yards out.
The second half onslaught continued with two more goals in the next eight minutes. The first from Ledet on a pass from Peskin, and the next from Peskin by a penalty kick. The final goal of the game came when midfielder Juliana Ocampo found the ball at her feet after Irene Saether’s shot deflected off Ali Hebert onto the cross bar. Saether and Hebert got the double assist.
Peskin’s hat trick gave her a team-best 10 goals for the season, and 19 career goals.
“We did really good second half,” she said. “In the first half, we made passes, but they kept intercepting them and playing around us. In the second half, we came guns blazing, and we just played for each other and our team. Coach Steve came out at halftime and told us, ‘Look, we have to pick up our game.’”
The Lady Cards will close out the regular season Friday, when they travel to Lake Charles, La., to take on rival the McNeese State Cowgirls. The game will begin at 7 p.m. at Cowgirl Field.
Story by Cade Smith, UP staff writer