Cardinal midfielder Alana Clark celebrates with her teammates after scoring the first game tying goal against the University of Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, Oct. 15, at the Lamar University Soccer Complex.
The Lamar University women’s soccer team tied 2-2 with the University of Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, Oct. 15, at the Lamar University Soccer Complex.
The Cardinals continue their 12-game undefeated streak and are now 7-0-1 in Southland Conference play.
The match started off slow for the Cards. Their typically-strong defense, which had allowed just three goals over their last 12 games, let an early shot go by in the 31st minute and fell behind 1-0.
Lamar’s offense only managed six shot attempts in the first half.
“The big difference was the wind is blowing (against us),” said Lamar head coach Nathan Kogut after the game. “We're gonna sit back and absorb some pressure. They scored on a really weird free kick, but we had our chances in the second half.”
Things picked up in the second half when Alana Clark scored with a tap-in goal in the 59th minute. Lamar maintained possession for most of the second half, evidenced by their 21 shots compared to the Lions’ four.
Unfortunately, their effort wasn't enough and the Lions scored on the counter attack in the 80th minute to pull ahead, 2-1.
Despite trailing late, the Cards did not give up. With five minutes remaining, Maddie Janolo scored an equalizer.
“I just saw an opportunity to go forward,” said Janolo. “I saw Cariel (Ellis) grab the ball, and I pointed her to split me in, and I just took the opportunity to hit it.”
After a tough battle against the second-best team in the conference, Lamar ended the match with a 2-2 draw.
Nicole Panis tied with former Cardinal goalkeeper Bailey Fontenot for the all-time record for most saves (328). Panis ended the game with six saves.
The Cardinals are now 12-2-2 overall in regular season play and still lead the Southland with a 7-0-2 record.
“We have two games left,’ Kogut said. “We win two games and we win the conference title. That’s our goal.”
The Cards will go up against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in an away game on Oct. 20th at 7p.m.