Arthurs’ Late Header Propels SFA into Southland Tournament Title Game with Win over Lamar, 2-1

Friday, November 2

Beaumont, Texas

7:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

7-8-3

#3 Lamar

12-6-2

Stephen F. Austin

Lamar University

Arthurs’ Late Header Propels SFA into Southland Tournament Title Game with Win over Lamar, 2-1

11/2/2018 8:57:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SFA advances to play in championship title game on Sunday

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

BEAUMONT, Texas – Another Southland Tournament game, another moment of late heroics by the Ladyjacks.

Carli Arthurs rose up to score on a header in the 83^rdminute of play to lift SFA (7-8-3) past host Lamar 2-1 on Friday night, booking a trip to a third straight conference tournament title game on Sunday against five-seed Abilene Christian. The game-winning tally was the second of the season for Arthurs and came off a corner kick service by Sophia Fondren. The victory sets up a showdown with another "underdog" team, as the 'Jacks will face off with five-seed Abilene Christian on Sunday in the tournament title game at 1:00 p.m. The matchup is the highest combined seeding in a title game in Southland Conference Tournament history, beating out a 2006 matchup between six-seed McNeese and fifth-seed Texas State.

"It's a big game for us, Lamar's a very good team and they're well-coached", said SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "Certainly playing them on their home field, with a big turnout in the stands was a challenge. We had a tremendous buildup on our first goal, and likewise we made a couple mistakes on their equalizing goal. We talked at halftime about how this game was going to come down to who manages the game better, and we saw some things that they did that we thought would give us a good chance, and I thought we executed and pulled those pieces out really well. I thought we made good choices to give us a chance to win from 70 minutes and on."

A matchup between the two title game teams from last season was every bit the hard-fought affair it promised to be, but it was the Ladyjacks who got the better of another higher-seeded opponent by outshooting Lamar 17-8 in the contest and 10-3 in the second half. SFA would break open the game in the 21st minute with a great goal from sophomore midfielder Katelyn Termini, who powered a shot past the Cardinal goalkeeper for her fourth goal of the season and second of the tournament.

After heading into the halftime break tied at one goal apiece, it was the Ladyjacks who came out quickly as the aggressors in the second half, as Sophia Fondren notched a pair of dangerous shots in the 47^thminute. The first of these floated just high enough to rocket off the crossbar, while a follow-up off the rebound was denied by a one-handed save from Cardinal keeper Sandra Nygard. The 'Jacks peppered Nygard with good looks in the 48^thand 51^stminutes as well off the foot of Fondren and Lauren Prentice, but weren't able to convert either opportunity.

"I thought we represented ourselves really well in our possession and attacking, although I thought there were some times we settled for some shots from distance, but at the end of the day there were some really dangerous moments", explained Crittenden. "I'm very proud of our kids and their overall execution in this game."

In the second half, SFA stymied the vaunted Cardinals offense, conceding just three shots in the period while launching ten of their own. The decisive play came in the 83^rdminute, when Breanna Moore earned a corner kick for the Ladyjacks. Sophomore Sophia Fondren stepped up and delivered a beautiful service into the goal box, where Arthurs was there to head the ball in for the go-ahead goal.

The Ladyjacks weathered the remaining attempts to equalize by the Cardinals in the final six minutes of play, but would ultimately not concede any shots by Lamar for the remainder.

"Certainly it's great to qualify for that (a third straight title game), but I'm just happy to see our kids earn a chance to play another game", added Crittenden. "We've been through a lot this year, we're still going through some of that and trying to develop and coach our players. Our in-game learning has been very good this year, and we're at a point now where I just want to watch them play again. We'll meet a very good Abilene Christian team that we played very tightly a few weeks ago, so I expect a tremendous match that will demand our best efforts."

-SFA-