BEAUMONT, Texas – In a matchup that was tightly contested throughout, junior Olivia Rossman scored with less than two minutes left in the first overtime period to give the No. 5 seed HCU women's soccer team the Southland Conference Tournament title with a 1-0 win over No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin and send the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament.
The tournament championship is the third for HCU (12-8-2) since joining the SLC in 2013. The Huskies are now 3-0 in SLC Tournament championship matches with all three of those wins coming over SFA (8-4-10).
The Huskies came out on the offensive with Isabella Dillow putting a shot on goal in the second minute and an Alexia Murillo shot off a free kick stopped by SFA goalkeeper Sierra McCluer just over three minutes in. The two teams went back and forth in an entertaining first half with HCU holding a 7-6 lead in shots with five attempts on goal to three for the Ladyjacks.
Both teams struggled to get much in the way of good scoring chances in the second half with SFA putting three of five shot attempts on goal while the Huskies managed just a pair of shots with the game destined for overtime. In the first overtime period, Emmy McKeon made a pair of saves for the Huskies in the first seven minutes. HCU didn't get a shot until early in the 99th minute when Dillow gained control near midfield and pushed the ball up, playing it out wide to Ella Remy who delivered a textbook cross to Rossman who neatly slotted the ball past McCluer for the winner.
Rossman's goal was her fourth of the season and second of the tournament en route to Tournament MVP honors. McKeon finished the day with eight saves to earn shutout number six of the year. The sophomore totaled 18 saves across three matches, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. Joining Rossman and McKeon as all-tournament selections were
Paisley Barela,
Jordan Bushnell,
Alexia Murillo and
Ella Remy.
The Huskies' 12 wins this season set a new program record for single-season victories with HCU pushing its win streak to five matches.
HCU will now wait to find out their matchup for the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Monday, Nov. 10, with the NCAA Selection Show reveal scheduled for 3:00 p.m. via a live stream at NCAA.com.
