BEAUMONT, Texas – Freshman Paisley Barela continued her impressive Southland Conference Tournament, scoring the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute and the fifth-seeded HCU women's soccer team pushed its win streak to four with a 2-1 win over No. 1 seed Northwestern State on Thursday at the LU Soccer Complex.
The first half saw the top-seeded Lady Demons (13-5-3, 7-2-1 SLC) put four of their six shots on goal, testing HCU (11-8-2, 4-4-2 SLC) goalkeeper Emmy McKeon. The Huskies managed just two shots in the first 45 as the teams headed into the break even, 0-0.
The Huskies came out aggressive in the second half with Olivia Rossman getting an early chance. Less than four minutes in, a handball in the box gave the Huskies a chance from the penalty spot. Senior defender Alexia Murillo lined up for the shot and calmly tucked it inside the right post to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Just a minute later, Olivia Rossman nearly doubled the lead but NSU keeper Kennedy Rist managed to deflect the shot over the bar.
Northwestern State came up with an equalizer, however, when Kendall Hemperley blasted a shot to the top left corner to even things up, 1-1, with just under 30 minutes left in regulation. The two team remained deadlocked until the 83rd minute when Gisele Kehres came up with a steal in the HCU offensive half and sent a cross into the box toward the far post with Barela getting a header just under the crossbar and past a diving Rist for the game-winner.
Barela's goal was her third of the tournament after scoring twice in the Huskies' opening win over East Texas A&M after not scoring during the regular season. Murillo's goal was her second of the year and the assist was the first of Kehres' career.
The Huskies' 11 wins this season ties the program record for single-season wins and is the most since HCU joined the Southland Conference in 2014. The win over Northwestern State was just the fourth five-over-one upset in SLC Tournament history.
HCU will take on No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 1:00 p.m. The Jacks defeated host and No. 6 seed Lamar 2-0 on Thursday evening. It will mark the third-ever trip to the SLC finals for the Huskies with HCU having won both previous championship games they've played in, defeating SFA in both 2014 and 2016.
