The victory put the Bearkats in position to earn their second consecutive Southland post-season playoff berth if they can defeat Lamar University in the regular season finale Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pritchett. Sam Houston evened its league record at 4-4 and clinched the first winning season mark in the program's six-year history by upping their record for the year to 9-6.

The loss was the first in league play for conference leader McNeese. The Cowgirls dropped to 6-1-1 in Southland action and 10-6-1 for the year.

Bueno scored two of the goals and assisted on the third, upping her Sam Houston State career goal total to 26, a school record.

Natalie Pantel set up the first goal, intercepting a Cowgirl clearance on the left sideline and finding Bueno open in the box. Bueno right footed the ball in from 12 yards out to give Sam Houston a 1-0 lead at the 53:32 mark.

Another Bueno shot from in front of the goal bounced off McNeese goalkeeper Shelby Money and rebounded to Miessa's feet. The sophomore from Sao Paulo blasted the ball into the net for a 2-0 lead at 65:30.

Less than two minutes later, the Brazilians found the net again as Miessa passed to Bueno for the third Bearkat goal at 67:13

Jenny Pence and the Bearkat defense picked up its eighth shutout of the season. Pence not only made 10 saves but also cut off several dangerous McNeese crosses into the box.

Kamryn Koch of McNeese came into the match as the league's top scorer with 19 goals and JaNae Powell has scored eight times this year.

"We did an excellent job defensively shutting down two of the league's top goal scorers and our offense was clicking," SHSU head coach Tom Brown said. "We were really focused in practice this week. The girls knew what they had to do tonight and they did it."

Sunday is “Senior Day” at Pritchett Field as six Bearkat seniors will be honored in pregame ceremonies.