CORPUS CHRISTI – The McNeese women's soccer team fought until the very last second in Friday's semifinal round of the Southland Conference Tournament but came up just short as the No. 6 seeded Cowgirls were defeated by second-seeded Stephen F. Austin, 4-2.

Despite the loss, McNeese (9-10-1, 4-6-1 SLC) overcame every obstacle thrown its way before and during the season. In August, the Cowgirls were picked to finish 10th in both preseason polls. They proved everyone wrong as they captured eight wins in the regular season for a sixth place finish to advance to its 13th SLC Tournament.

With the odds stacked against it, McNeese once again cleared the hurdle and captured its first tournament victory and advanced to the semi-final round for the first time since the 2008 season.

The program bid farewell to four outstanding senior student-athletes Bettina Brulhart, Kelley Clancey, Emily Silva and Hannah Sutherland, who contributions helped better the Cowgirl program and set the highest standards for the future.

"This group is a bunch of fighters that don't quit," said McNeese head coach Drew Fitzgerald. "We felt we created chances in the second half but couldn't quite get back in the game against a very good SFA team."

Fitzgerald made immediate progress in just his first season at the helm of the Cowgirl program. He became just the second head coach in McNeese soccer history to lead a team to the conference tournament and win a match.

"It was a good season for our team and great to get a win in the conference tournament and to compete in the semifinals," said Fitzgerald. "We are extremely proud of our team and will work hard to be back next year."

The Cowgirls were the first squad to light up the scoreboard as freshman Rachel Palet sunk her third goal of the season on a hard shot from 30 yards out past the SFA goalkeeper to give McNeese a 1-0 lead in the 10^th minute of the game.

It was after that Stephen F. Austin's (13-4, 9-2 SLC) high-powered offense came alive and scored four unanswered goals beginning with Breanna Moore's long-range effort from 25 yards out in the 31st minute to tie the match.

The Ladyjacks went on to score a trio of goals throughout the remainder of the first half to take a 3-1 lead into halftime.

SFA scored once more in the second half to stretch its lead out to a 4-1 score.

Junior Savannah LaRicci scored her 10^th goal of the season with just seven seconds left in the match that cut the Ladyjacks lead in half to a 4-2 score. LaRicci received a pass and netted in from five yards away. Senior Bettina Brulhart and junior Nikki Schaaf were credited with assists on the play.

LaRicci became just the third Cowgirl in program history to net 10 or more goals in a season. Kamryn Koch did so three different times while Allison Arnold accomplished the feat twice.

Junior goalkeeper Annie Bravenec etched her name in the single-season record book as her 1,645 minutes in goal were the fourth most in a season.

With the win, Stephen F. Austin advanced to the finals of the SLC Tournament and will face the winner of the Central Arkansas/Houston Baptist semifinal match on Sunday.

McNeese held the edge in shots with 13 while SFA attempted eight, and had an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. McNeese also held an edge in corner kicks, 5-4.

McNeese finished the match with 13 total shots, including eight shots on goal, and five corner kicks, while SFA attempted eight shots with seven shots on goal and four corner kicks. The Cowgirls committed nine fouls and the Ladyjacks committed 10.