Taking Aim At History Friday
10/24/2012 10:08:00 AM | Soccer
The soccer team already has clinched a berth in the Southland Conference post-season tournament to be held at Cowgirl Field at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., Thursday Nov. 1 through Sunday Nov. 4.
A victory over the Cardinals, however, would earn Sam Houston its highest Southland Conference finish in the 10-year history of the program.
Powered by a stingy defense that has surrendered only six goals in seven league matches this year, Sam Houston currently is tied for third place with Southeastern Louisiana. Both sport 4-2-1 Southland marks.
Lamar owns a 5-2 league record. A victory puts the Kats in the number two spot.
"The team has worked hard all season to put ourselves in a good position for the post-season tournament," Sam Houston head coach Tom Brown said. "Certainly they know the importance of Friday's match."
The Bearkat defense has set record marks during the 2012 season. In 17 matches, Sam Houston has surrendered only 16 goals. The school record for goals against coming into the season was 30 in 2004. The Kats have posted seven shutouts.
Freshman goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton owns a 0.90 goals against average. Seniors Kayla Anderson, Amanda Biega and Hailey Shelpuk and sophomore Ashley Fluty man the back line just in front of Hambleton.
Three Bearkats have provided multiple goals for Sam Houston this season. Freshman Katie Ferrara has scored four times, junior Tricia Mallory three and senior Kirby Zak three goals.
Sam Houston and Lamar battled twice last year in a pair of defensive thrillers. The Cardinals defeated SHSU 1-0 in overtime in Beaumont in the regular season and the Kats blanked Lamar 1-0 in the first round of last year's tournament.
Six teams qualify for the tournament in Lake Charles. The No. 3 and No. 6 seeds face off and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds meet in the first round on Thursday Nov. 1. The winner of the 3-6 match faces the No. 2 seed and the 4-5 victor meets Southland regular season champion Stephen F. Austin in Friday's semifinals. The championship match between the semifinal winners will be Sunday Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.
