BEAUMONT – The fifth-seeded Houston Christian Huskies scored three goals in the second half on Tuesday morning to down the fourth-seeded East Texas A&M University soccer team by a score of 4-0 in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament at the LU Soccer Complex.
 
The Huskies won their second straight match over the Lions and improved to 10-8-2 on the season, advancing to the semifinals on Thursday facing either top-seeded Northwestern State or eighth-seeded McNeese.
 
The Lions end their season with a record of 7-8-4 and went 4-2-4 in Southland action.
 
Through the first 27 minutes of the match, both teams had three shots each, but the Huskies drew first blood with Paisley Barela finding the back of the net off an assist from Gisele Kehres.
 
Off a corner kick, a scramble broke out in the box and Barela was there to kick it in for the Huskies.
 
Barela scored her second goal of the match in the 58^th minute, while Isabella Dillow added another goal for the Huskies just a minute later with Alexia Murrillo adding an assist.
 
The final goal of the match was an own goal scored by the Lions in the 71^st minute. The Lions had the 14-12 shot advantage on Tuesday, but were shutout in back-to-back matches by the Huskies.
 
Hannah Bell (Duncanville) and Mya Mitchell (Dallas – Mesquite Horn) had three shots each. Emmy McKeon recorded her second straight shutout against East Texas A&M and totaled five saves, while Gillian McKenzie (Mesquite Horn) had four saves for the Lions.