LAKE CHARLES-- It was a nice ending to senior day and the Cowgirls' 2009 home finale with a 2-1 victory over Lamar here Sunday. The win extended the Cowgirls' winning streak to three games and they improved to 7-9-2 overall and 3-4-0 in Southland Conference play. The loss dropped Lamar to 3-12-1 overall and 2-5-0 in conference play.

     "Our final home weekend is always parents' weekend and the weekend we honor our seniors. We are very proud of our seniors (Erin Leighton, Erica Shepard, and Lauren Slater), they have each played very important roles into turning McNeese soccer into a championship organization. They hold the distinquished honor of competing in three consecutive SLC Tournament Championship finals and we are looking to get them a fourth final appearance and a championship ring. 
      Prior to the game, seniors Erin Leighton, Erica Shepard and Lauren Slater were honored in front of the many fans attending the game. The game was especially important for Leighton who became McNeese's career games played leader who played in her 77th game in a Cowgirl uniform.

     "Today was an all around great day for McNeese Soccer. We picked up a very important southland conference victory, we hosted our annual parents weekend, and we most importantly, we honored three outstanding seniors.  Going into the match, both teams were tied for the sixth and final Southland Conference Tournament spot. We knew a win would not guarantee a place in the tournament, but the winner would have an advantage on claiming a berth in the tournament going into the final weekend of conference play," said head coach Scooter Savoie.
      The Cowgirls took care of business early by netting their first goal in the sixth minute. Audrey LaLanne scored her second goal of the season off an assist by Lindsey Zwahr. The assist was Zwahr's third of the year. The Cowgirls struck again 11 minutes later when Brittany Sanders scored off a rebound from Alana Clark's shot that hit the crossbar for a 2-0 Cowgirl lead. The goal was the fourth for Sanders and the assist was Clark's third of the year.

     "I felt our team had a confident week of training and I beleive that was the key to our performance today. We stepped onto the field with confidence and established a good rythm and pace to the game from the start. We were fortunate to be the first team on the board. We scored two goals early from corner kicks that were the result of outstanding team effort to create the opportunities and then finish them. Both Audrey LaLanne and Brittany Sanders did the work that was needed to put away loose balls in the box which was very important to our success. We continued to play with a good rhythm throughout the first half and this allowed us to head into the break up by two."
      The Cowgirls held onto its 2-0 lead until Lamar's Kari Davila's shot hit the crossbar and bounced into the net for the Cardinal goal in the 67th minute.

     "Our ladies did a great job of managing the second half. We knew Lamar would be forced to press and we talked about the effort that Lamar would have to give to get back into the game. We knew Lamar was capable of giving that effort. We did a good job to make things difficult for Lamar with our defensive effort. Even though they got on the board midway through the period, we continued to maintain our composure and played with confidence. We never pressed ourselves, and I believe that is why we won the game."
     McNeese will conclude the regular season this weekend with games at Southeastern La. and Nicholls State. The Cowgirls will face the Lions at 3 p.m. Friday before taking on the Colonels at 1 p.m. Sunday.