CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – With just over seven minutes to play in the first overtime period, McNeese sophomore Dayna Garcia buried the game-winning goal to lead the No. 6-seeded Cowgirls to a thrilling 1-0 victory over No. 3-seeded Northwestern State in Wednesday's first round and into the semifinal round at the SLC Women's Soccer Tournament for the first time since the 2008 season.
 
The Cowgirls (9-9-1, 4-6-1 SLC) will meet No. 2-seeded Stephen F. Austin Friday at 4 p.m. in the first of two semifinal matches. The Ladyjacks received a first-round bye into the conference semifinals after finishing their conference slate with a 9-2 mark.
 
Quite a bit of history was made in Wednesday's match as the 2016 McNeese soccer squad became the first team since 2008 to win a match in the SLC Tournament and advance into the semi-final round. The Cowgirls will look to make their first appearance in the conference championship since doing so in 2007.
 
With the teams locked in a scoreless tie in the opening minutes of the first overtime period, junior Savannah LaRicci launched a shot from inside the box that resulted in a block but was quickly recovered by freshman Rachel Palet who attempted another shot but instead passed it off to defender Sarah Clayton.
 
From there, Clayton passed the ball to Garcia who drew the Northwestern State goalkeeper out of the net and finished the play with a one touch pass from the left side of the box at the 93:27 mark to score the first goal of her sophomore campaign.
 
"It was pretty awesome," said Garcia. The moment that I scored I knew all our hard work had paid off. We did it for our seniors to continue their season."
 
Garcia, a native of Chino Hills, Calif., scored her first goal since Aug. 25 of last season in a shutout effort against Prairie View A&M.
 
McNeese head coach Drew Fitzgerald became just the second coach in school history to score a win in the conference tournament as he joined in on the celebration following the match.
 
"We felt like we created enough chances to score a goal but weren't quite sure how it would come," said Fitzgerald. "Clayton found a way up the field and fund Dayna for the goal. We are incredibly proud of our team for the fight they put in over a very good Northwestern State team."
 
The McNeese defense posted its fifth shutout of the season and its first shutout over a squad in the Southland Conference tournament since the 2007 season.
 
"I felt like our team defensively as a whole stayed composed and everyone did their job the way they were supposed to," said junior defender Gabi D'Alesandro. "The last moments of the game we were all focused on the same goal. We all wanted to win for ourselves and our seniors."
 
While McNeese finished the match with a 19-4 advantage in total shots, each side was credited with three corner kicks. The Cowgirls led in shots on goal, 6-1.
 
Junior goalkeeper Annie Bravenec turned in her fourth clean sheet of the season in Wednesday's shutout over the Lady Demons. Bravenec made one save in the match as the Cowgirl backline held strong and kept Northwestern State off-target throughout the whole match.
 
With its victory in the first round of the 2016 SLC Tournament, McNeese became the first No. 6 seed to defeat a No. 3 seed in the opening round of the tournament since Sam Houston State defeated Lamar in 2011, and the third No. 6 seed to advance to the SLC semifinal round in 10 years of the current postseason format. The Cowgirls were seeded sixth in 2006 and went on to capture the tournament title.
 
Friday's semi-final round match against Stephen F. Austin will stream live on SouthlandDigitalNetwork.com while fans can catch the action via Twitter following @McNeeseSoccer.