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LAKE CHARLES, La. – After losing their first two Southland Conference matches of the season, the HBU women's soccer team bounced back with a big 2-1 double-overtime win over McNeese at Cowgirl Field on Sunday afternoon to ensure the Huskies will no worse than the third seed in the SLC tournament.
 
In the first half, Havana Johnson had a header miss wide just over a minute into the game for McNeese (12-6-1, 6-3-1 SLC). The Huskies (9-7-1, 7-2-1 SLC) totaled four shot attempts in the half and freshman Talin Rizo recorded the only shot on goal of the period in the 37^th minute but the Cowgirls' Emma Roccaforte came up with the save. McNeese took five attempts in the half.
 
The Cowgirls got the scoring started when Rachel Palet netted her third goal of the year at the 56:29 mark. During the next 20 minutes, McNeese put four more shots on goal but Alanis Guevara made all four saves to keep the Huskies deficit at one. Then, in the 79^th minute, sophomore Noor Abukishk notched her first goal of the year with an assist from Sabriah Spencer to even things up. The lone shot the rests of the way came off the foot of McNeese's Alexis Rodriguez in the 88^th minute but Guevara came up with her fifth save of the half.
 
McNeese controlled the first overtime with multiple shots on goal but nothing finding the net. In the second overtime, a Cowgirl foul set HBU up with a free kick taken by Bryce Reynolds. Reynolds' kick into the box found senior Baylii Bieke who controlled the ball and finished the match in the 102^nd minute.
 
"The win was huge momentum for us," said head coach Misty Jones. "We had taken two losses to two good teams and it was important to pick up the win. I was very proud of the girls. We are pretty banged up and had to move personnel around, but the girls' response was fantastic."
 
The Huskies' two goals were the first of the season for both Abukishk and Bieke while Spencer now has five assists and Reynolds now has three. In goal, Guevara made seven saves.
 
With the win, HBU moves into third place all alone with 22 points and is just one point behind second-place Lamar. McNeese and Abilene Christian are tied in fourth, three points behind the Huskies. With all teams having just one SLC game remaining on the schedule, the Huskies own the tiebreaker against both McNeese and Abilene Christian, assuring them of at least the third seed at the SLC tournament with the No. 2 seed still within reach.
 
HBU travels to Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday, Oct. 26, to face the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7:00 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.