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Cajuns rage, Pioneers win
Louisiana-Lafayette gave the DU Pioneers a scare during the first-round Sun Belt Conference tournament game on Wednesday morning, but the Ragin’ Cajuns came up short.
Kalie Vaughn’s 19th minute goal looked like it would be sufficient to send DU (18-2-0) on to the next round. However, the Ragin’ Cajuns pulled even in the 67th minute off a Cayla Chatman goal.
The celebrating was short-lived however, as Kristen Hamilton deliverd in the 70th minute. The Pioneers then rode out the final 20 minutes for the win. Louisiana-Lafayette fell to 10-11-0 with the loss.
On the first goal, a Kaitlin Bast pass found Vaughn in the box. She moved to fake goalkeeper Amanda Mo0refield and then fired into an empty net. The goal was the only score of the first half.
In the second half, the Pioneers twice came up short on corner kick opportunites. Louisiana-Lafayette managed to pull even when Shelby Isley’s pass to Chatman was converted into a shot over the head of ‘keeper Lara Campbell.
Hamilton, who had come off for a rest in the 61st minute returned in the 69th, substituting for Bast. A little more than a minute later, Hamilton and Vaughn broke free in a two-on-one rush that ended with Hamilton firing past Moorefield for the goal and the final 2-1 margin.
For the game, Campbell made five saves for DU, while Moorefield had eight saves for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Pioneers advanced to play the winner of the FIU-Troy match, which was ongoing at this update, at 3 p.m Thursday. The winner of that game advances to Saturday’s tournament final.
Update: FIU managed a late goal to defeat Troy 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon and will face DU on Thursday.
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