TLU Advances to SCAC Final with 2-1 Win over Concordia (TX)

HOUSTON, Texas -- No. 2 seed Texas Lutheran women's soccer advanced to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after outlasting No. 3 seed Concordia (TX) for a 2-1 semifinal victory at SaberCats Stadium Friday afternoon. With the win, TLU advances to the SCAC championship for the fifth time in program history and matched their program by extending their win streak to six matches in a row.

TLU (13-5-1) got on the board in the 15th minute via a goal from newly minted All-SCAC second team member Natalia Cortez (Edinburg/Robert Vela) via an assist from Houston native Klarissa Martinez (Houston/Incarnate Word Academy). The goal was Cortez's second of the season while the assist was Martinez's tenth. Martinez becomes just the second Bulldog to record double-digit assists in a single-season and comes within one of matching Katie Buehler's single-season record of 11 assists in a season. Cortez's goal was the second-fastest goal in SCAC tournament history for TLU. Kennedy Jobe scored in the 10th minute in a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Austin College at the 2017 championships.

Texas Lutheran dominated possession in the first half, outshooting the Tornados 5-1 over the course of the first 45 minutes.

TLU was able to double their lead in the 51st minute as Callie Brame (San Antonio/Churchill) was able to find Lilly Noblett (San Antonio/Warren) for her sixth goal of the season to double the Bulldogs lead to 2-0.

Concordia managed to cut the lead in half in the 70th minute but TLU's defense held firm and parried away the last-minute attempts. Texas Lutheran effectively controlled the tempo in the last couple of minutes, and maintained possession to shut down Concordia's attack to secure the win.

Goalkeeper Alysa Marquez (Miami, FL/Dr. Michael Krop) recorded her 13th win in-goal for the Bulldogs this season, matching Katie Kistner's single-season record set in 2004 and 2006. Marquez would make three saves on the afternoon to eclipse 100 career saves in her career, just the ninth keeper in program history to reach the mark.

The Bulldogs advance to Sunday's final against No. 1 seed Trinity. Kickoff will be at 11 AM and will be streamed on FloSports. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.