SHREVEPORT, La. – Down a player for 75 minutes, the Louisiana Christian University women's soccer team rallied with two goals in 50 seconds to overcome a 2-0 deficit, but being shorthanded led to a late scoring frenzy by LSU Shreveport in a 6-2 loss to the Pilots Thursday afternoon at The Swamp.
Louisiana Christian (7-6-1, 4-4 RRAC) was put a player down in the 15
th minute after a Wildcat foul was determined to have denied LSU Shreveport (9-5-2, 5-2-1 RRAC) a goal-scoring opportunity, bringing out an automatic red card and sending LCU down to just 10 on the field.
The Pilots took advantage of being a player up, scoring in the 38
th minute to go up 1-0. That would be the lone goal of the first 45 minutes
Eight minutes into the second half, LSUS doubled its lead with a goal directly off a free kick to make it 2-0 Pilots.
But LCU found its way onto the scoreline in the 59
th minute.
Katalina Medina sent a through ball which found the feet of
Giselle Laing and the Wildcats' leading scorer converted the opportunity to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
Not even a minute later, the Wildcats found the equalizer. Following a LSUS foul,
Isabella Urbaneto lifted a free kick into the box and
Giovanna Rocha got her head to it, redirecting the ball into the back of the net to tie the score at 2-2.
But being shorthanded caught up to LCU and LSUS scored in the 71
st, 73
rd, 75
th, and 82
nd minutes to pull away.
Laing was the only Wildcat with multiple shots, taking two attempts at goal with both being on target while her goal was her team-leading 12
th of the season.
Rocha's goal came on her only shot of the match and was her second of the year.
Sara Mendivelso (2-3) played all 90 minutes in net for the Wildcats. She was credited with making 10 saves in the contest.
With the result as well as other results around the Red River Athletic Conference, Louisiana Christian is now locked in as the six-seed in the upcoming RRAC Championship Tournament. LCU looks to wrap up its regular season on a high note on Senior Day as Texas A&M-Texarkana comes to Pineville on Saturday. Kickoff of Saturday's regular season finale against the Eagles (13-2-1, 6-2 RRAC) is set for 5 p.m. at Wildcat Field.
