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BEAUMONT, Texas – Already assured of a spot in the Southland Conference tournament and no worse than the sixth seed, the HBU women's soccer team is set to face a pair of opponents this weekend who are both within three points of the second-place Huskies in the standings.
HBU (8-6-1, 6-1-1 SLC) begins the weekend on Friday, Oct. 19, at defending SLC champion Lamar (9-4-2, 5-1-2 SLC) with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. The Huskies are currently two points ahead of the Cardinals in the standings and two points behind leader Central Arkansas. On Sunday, Oct. 21, HBU travels east on I-10 to Lake Charles, La. to take on McNeese at 1:00 p.m. The Cowgirls are three points back of the Huskies in the league standings.
Last weekend, HBU got a game-winning goal from Senior
Sabriah Spencer on Friday night in overtime to take down Northwestern State at home before seeing their seven-match unbeaten streak come to an end at the hands of UCA on Sunday. Spencer also scored in that game, giving her five goals on the season. Her 14 points (5 goals, 4 assists) for the season are tied for fourth-most in the conference while he 10 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in SLC play rank her second in the league.
Lamar is coming off its first loss in SLC play just like the Huskies, having fallen on the road at Abilene Christian by a score of 3-0. The Cardinals boast a trio of players with five goals each in Lucy Ashworth, Kelso Peskin and Juliana Ocampo with Ashworth, a sophomore, leading the team in points (5 goals, 4 assists). In goal, Sandra Nygard and Jocelyn Hanrath have split time with Nygard seeing the majority of the minutes in recent weeks. The two have combined to total six shutouts with an .813 save percentage and a 1.36 goals against average. As a team, Lamar is out-scoring opponents 27-to-20.
McNeese picked up a pair of 1-0 road wins this past weekend at ACU and at Incarnate Word and will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday ahead of the matchup with the Huskies on Sunday. The Cowgirls are holding opponents to less than a goal per game this season, holding a 25-to-14 advantage in goals scored. Emma Roccaforte, a sophomore, has allowed just 11 goals in the 13 games this year with a 0.91 goals against average. Offensively, sophomore Havana Johnson and senior Morgan Middleton each have five goals on the season with Johnson leading the team with 12 points (5 goals, 2 assists).
HBU will wrap up the 2018 regular season on Friday, Oct. 26, in Corpus Christi, Texas against TAMUCC at 7:00 p.m.
