HAMMOND, La. - Abilene Christian's defense surrendered almost as many corner kicks (nine) as shots (12) to the high-powered offense of Southeastern Louisiana, and on their fourth corner of the second half Lauren Lorentz headed in the game-winning goal that gave the Lions a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats Sunday at Strawberry Stadium.
Lorentz' goal came at the start of the 75th minute off an assist from Ana Zadro, lifting Southeastern's overall and conference records to 8-1-1 and 3-0 to stay in first place behind a +8 goal differential.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, slipped to 2-7-2 and 1-1-1. They are home next weekend against Northwestern State Friday at 7 p.m. and Central Arkansas Sunday at 1 p.m.
ACU had its chances to score with six of its eight shots coming in the first half, but the Wildcats couldn't get anything past all-conference goalkeeper Hope Sabadash (six saves) nor a defense that allowed just two corner kicks.
Sabasdash intercepted two attempts by the Wildcats in the first 45 minutes, catching offerings from
Danielle Otto,
Lindsey Jones and
Kate Seay, while the crossbar bounced back a
Dylan Owens' blast in the 40th minute.
The Wildcats fired their lone two shots of the second half plus a corner kick in the opening 10 minutes. Sabadash slapped away a shot by
Natalie Throneberry, which set up a
Maria Gomez corner, and later she saved a header by Owens in the 55th minute.
On the other side of the pitch, Wildcat
Sydney Newton did all she could to keep her side in the match coming through with six saves, including two in the final 5:30 of regulation vs. Zadro and Maggie Ramsey.
"Both teams had their opportunities to score throughout the match," said head coach
Casey Wilson, whose Wildcats are 2-1 all-time vs. SLU. "Sometimes it comes down to how many corner kicks you give up and today we gave up one too many and they scored."
