COMMERCE, Texas -- An offense that struggled at the end of the regular season found its rhythm at the right time, as the University of the Incarnate Word earned a dominant 4-0 win over Nicholls in the opening round of the Southland Conference Women's Soccer Tournament Tuesday afternoon.
Fourth-seeded UIW was aggressive from the start, holding an 11-3 shot advantage over the fifth-seeded Colonels in the first half. While two different shots bounced off the post, the Cardinals were able to take advantage of a mistake by the Nicholls goalie.
Off a pass from
Atiana Lara,
Zaiba Ishaque raced down field and moved around Nicholls keeper Aislinn Wright, who had come way outside the box to try to make a stop. Ishaque made a move and tapped the ball into the net to give UIW a 1-0 lead it would carry into halftime.
The offense then caught fire in the second half, scoring three times on eight shots.
In the 50th minute,
Louise Coates broke wide open off a great
Peri Olmo pass and easily scored into an open net to make it 2-0.
The play of the day then came courtesy of
Julia Watson in the 59th minute.
On the far left side of the field, Watson sent a crosser that cleared everyone around the net, then managed to catch the post and bounce into the goal.
Ishaque and Heintz both scored their team-best fourth goals while Olmo moved into a tie for the team lead with four assists.
For good measure, UIW scored again with just over six minutes to play on an unassisted goal by
Morgan Heintz.
Hannah Alexander, who was also credited with an assist on Coates' goal, had six of her seven saves in the second half.
The four goals tied for the most the Cardinals have scored in an SLC Tournament game, equaling a 4-0 win over Houston Christian in the 2021 quarterfinals.
It was also the team's first tournament win since a 1-0 semifinal victory over McNeese, also in 2021.
The Cardinals will now take on No. 1 seed Lamar in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The teams had a very tight battle in Beaumont on Oct. 15,
a 1-0 Lamar win.
