Ladyjacks Drop Road Contest at Lamar on Late Penalty Kick, 3-2

Sunday, October 1

Beaumont, TX

1:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

6-6-0, 3-2-0

Lamar

9-3-1, 4-1-0

Stephen F. Austin

Lamar University

Ladyjacks Drop Road Contest at Lamar on Late Penalty Kick, 3-2

10/1/2017 4:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SFA was outshot 21-16 in the contest

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

BEAUMONT, Texas – As it turns out, the 12^th time was the charm for the Lamar Cardinals, who converted a penalty kick in the 86^th minute of Sunday's match to record their first ever win against SFA in the 12^th meeting between the teams. Prior to Sunday's result, the Ladyjacks had won every meeting between the two teams, and appeared to be on their way to a 12^th straight win from the opening whistle on Sunday.

With the loss, the Ladyjacks fall to 6-6 overall and 3-2 in Southland Conference play ahead of a pivotal matchup with Central Arkansas (7-6, 4-1 SLC) on Friday.

"First you've got to credit Lamar, they were organized and very dangerous on their set pieces " said SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "I thought we managed the run of play better than we had in recent games, but at the end of the day the goals they got from a throw-in and cross, another from a free kick and a goal off a PK to end the game is really tough to accept."

Katelyn Termini put the Ladyjacks on the board just two minutes into the contest, as she took a feed from Kennedy Rose and scored from close range to open the scoring. That shot was the opening salvo of a barrage by the Ladyjacks in the opening minutes, who directed five attempts on goal by the nine minute mark.

The early lead carried into the 31^st minute before the Cardinals responded, as a high, arcing service into the box was directed past SFA goalkeeper Allyson Smith for the equalizer. Hanna Barker got the first crack at trying to put SFA back on top, taking a pair of shots on goal in the 34^th minute, both of which were saved by Lamar goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy.

Set pieces have hurt SFA in recent games, and Lamar made a free kick in the 37^th minute count, scoring off a header to take a 2-1 lead which would carry into the halftime break. The corner kick was one of five the Cardinals earned on the day, compared to just one for the Ladyjacks.

Lamar would open up the second half with a flurry of shots, all of which were turned aside by Smith, part of a stellar performance in which she notched a career high with 12 saves on the day.

Not backing down, the Ladyjacks would find an equalizer of their own in the 63^rd minute, as Madison Hall took a pass from Sophia Fondren and fired off a long shot which beat Lovejoy for the Ladyjack's second goal of the game. After a fair amount of back and forth play in which both teams made advances on the attack and got looks at goal, the match looked to be headed for overtime until the 86^th minute of play. A Lamar attacker penetrated into the SFA goal box with the ball with an SFA defender in close pursuit. Some contact occurred, the Lamar attacker fell to the ground and a whistle was blown to give Lamar a penalty kick in a pivotal and very advantageous position late in the match. The resulting score would prove to be the difference maker and left SFA with the loss in a stunning turn of events.

"We will remain mature and professional and learn from these moments playing in tight games", added Crittenden. " We have another great test on Friday night with a good UCA team that we have history with and then we will take a step back and look at where we are at at the midpoint. We have a lot of soccer left to play in a very tight top half of the league."