Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES- McNeese State's women's soccer team, the No. 1 seed began defense of its SLC Tournament title with a 1-0 victory over No. 5 seed Southeastern Louisiana here Friday afternoon in the first of two semifinal games.

"This was another great victory for our program that gives us our second consecutive return to the tournament finals. We stepped onto the field with a lot of confidence. We knew we were playing a good Southeastern La. team and were in for a battle," said head coach Scooter Savoie.

After a scoreless first half, junior Kamryn Koch scored her 16th goal of the season off a Cynthia Torres assists in the 14th minute. The game winning goal set a single season individual record of seven. The assists for Torres was her sixth of the season.

"Cynthia Torres played an amazing game. She established control in the midfield both offensively and defensively. She gave a nice ball to Kamryn for the game winning goal."

McNeese was credited with 11 shots in the game, including six in the second half. Koch and Mayra Torres led the Cowgirls with three apiece.

Goalie Shelby Money recorded an individual school record sixth shutout with the victory. Money was credited with two saves in the game.

"Shelby proved how tough and competitive she is once again today as she helped us record our 11th shutout of the season. Renee Landers showed remarkable leadership in her ability to manage our back line. She was very tough physically and showed tremendous amount of composure."

The victory is the first time since the 2003 season that the top seed advances to the tournament finals. McNeese improves to 12-4-4 overall and will face second seed Stephen F. Austin at 1 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. Stephen F. Austin defeated Texas-San Antonio 1-0 in the other semifinal game to advance. The winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament. McNeese defeated Stephen F. Austin 1-0 in Lake Charles during the regular season.