HAMMOND, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team went into its final road game of the season and came away with the 1-0 shutout over Southeastern in addition to clinching a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament and recording the program's first-ever winning season Sunday at Strawberry Stadium.
The Islanders move to 8-4-5 (5-2-2 SLC) on the year and with just two guaranteed games left after securing a spot in the conference tournament, they have posted the first winning season in program history coming under the direction of first-year head coach
Daniel Clitnovici.
"It was a really good win against a very strong opponent in Southeastern, we had to be at our best today and we were," said Clitnovici. "We showed up and played on the front foot from the get-go and as the game went on, we knew we would get our chances and we are really proud of the group, it was an outstanding performance. Today was also a special day for Islanders Soccer, clinching the postseason and setting a program record for a guaranteed winning season just shows the determination this group has in them."
The 1-0 victory over Southeastern (6-8-2, 5-4-1 SLC) also caps an undefeated final road trip after the Islanders took down Nicholls 3-0 this past Friday. It is the third win in a row for A&M-Corpus Christi, all coming in shutouts as they move to seven clean sheets on the year all at the hands of senior goalkeeper
Zoe Theriot.
Theriot's seven shutouts ranks her in sole first place among goalies in the conference after she already broke the program record for more shutouts by a senior goalkeeper. She made three saves today to shut the Lady Lions down, taking her to a total of 77 on the year.
The decisive goal came in the 66
th minute after senior
Rachel Loetzer connected on the header off the corner feed from sophomore
Ashley Wilson. It is the third goal of the season for Loetzer but ninth of her career and fourth-ever game-winner. She has scored three goals in each of the last three seasons.
For Wilson, she recorded her third assist of the year and fifth in her career. Her three assists this season breaks her season-total best after tallying two her freshman year.
It marks A&M-Corpus Christi's fifth-ever win over the Lady Lions but first victory in Hammond since 2021 when they also won that 1-0. It is the first time the Islanders have ever won back-to-back meetings versus Southeastern after also winning last year's game 1-0.
"Our focus all season has been focused on the next day or "next game" mentality and we have to keep thinking that way. If we do, amazing things like today can continue to happen," said Clitnovici.
The Islanders will now return home for the foreseeable future, wrapping up the regular season against UTRGV Friday night where final seedings will be determined before hosting the SLC Tournament at the Dugan Stadium Nov. 5-10.
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