CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – HCU won three of its last five games, including a 2-0 win on the final day of the regular season, to secure the seven seed in the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament and the Huskies are set to face second-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce in the tournament's opening round on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. at the Dr. Jack Dugan Soccer and Track & Field Stadium.
Trailing UIW by one point for the final spot in the tournament field last Friday, Oct. 27, the Huskies (6-10, 4-6 SLC) earned a huge three points with a 2-0 shutout victory over the Cardinals. Freshman
Olivia Rossman netted the game-winner for HCU while senior
Mia Salas put the game out of reach with the team's second goal. The Huskies' defense limited the Cardinals to 11 shots with just two on goal in the win.
Rossman was named second team all-SLC this morning along with sophomore
Alexa Huerta while senior
Kat Lazor was a first team selection. The Huskies' three selections were the fourth-most by any program in the conference.
Wednesday's opponent, Texas A&M-Commerce (9-6-3, 7-1-2 SLC) went 2-1-2 over the final five games of the season, earning shutout wins over Nicholls and McNeese, drawing with UIW and Lamar and losing to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lions had six all-conference honorees, including four first team selections, with freshman Hannah Bell earning Freshman of the Year and Forward of the Year honors while redshirt freshman Kaydence Ramirez was named Newcomer of the Year. Bell and Ramirez combined to score 19 of the Lions' 32 goals this season.
The Huskies and Lions played once during the regular season, a 4-3 A&M-Commerce victory in Commerce, Texas. The Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead within the first 19 minutes but
Katie Marker put HCU on the board in the 24
th minute with a goal on a rebound from a
Mia Salas shot. The Huskies trailed 4-1 at the half, but goals from Salas and Lazor early in the second half tightened things up the rest of the way.
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the semifinals to play the winner of No. 3 McNeese vs. No. 6 Southeastern on Friday, Nov. 3, at 4:00 p.m.
