2023 CUSA Women’s Soccer Championship Central
 
RUSTON, La. – For the second-straight year, the No. 5 and 6 seeds advanced to the semifinals of the CUSA Soccer Championship as Sam Houston and LA Tech punched their tickets with one-goal victories on Wednesday at Robert Mack Caruthers Field.
 
The Bearkats edged FIU and advanced to face top-seeded NM State Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT, while the host Bulldogs topped WKU to set up a showdown with No. 2 Liberty at 7 p.m. CT on Friday.
 
Game One: No. 5 Sam Houston 3, No. 4 FIU 2 | Box Score | Photo Gallery
In its CUSA Soccer Championship debut, No. 5 Sam Houston held off No. 4 FIU, 3-2. Goalkeeper Libby Harper made nine saves on 22 total shots faced and kept the Panthers off the board in the second half in just her fifth start of the season.
 
The Bearkats (6-6-4) capitalized on a shorthanded FIU squad, scoring twice in the early going after a Panthers player stepped off the field to tend to an injury. Kennedy Baquero opened the scoring in the eighth minute after she intercepted a clearance attempt at the top of the box and volleyed one to the right of the keeper.
 
Just 43 seconds later, the Bearkats struck again as Landri Townsend laid it off to Pam Murray, who fired one into the upper left corner to double the lead. In the 13^th minute, Townsend joined in on the scoring after cutting off a pass and stepping into a right-footed shot to the back of the net.
 
The Panthers (8-6-4) got one back in the 32^nd minute as Reagan Bridges and Noemi Paquin worked the ball up the right flank to Nikole Solis, who dribbled into the box and slotted one under the arm of the keeper. Barbara Garcia brought FIU within one just before the break after finding finishing off a pass from Chinatsu Kaio. The five first-half goals were the most in a half at the CUSA Championship since Memphis and UTEP scored nine over 45 minutes on Nov. 2, 2005.  
 
Game Two: No. 6 LA Tech 1, No. 3 WKU | Box Score | Photo Gallery
In front of a raucous home crowd, No. 6 LA Tech triumphed for a 1-0 upset of No. 3 WKU. The Bulldogs limited the Lady Tops to just eight shots and three on goal, while Kalli Matlock’s 40^th-minute score went down as the game-winner.
 
After a quiet first 40 minutes, the Bulldogs struck in the with nearly five minutes to go in the opening period as Matlock’s shot – which appeared to be a cross – found its way over the keeper into the right side of the net.  
 
LA Tech and WKU were even on shots in the first half with five apiece, but the Bulldogs defense stepped up in the second half with just three shots allowed. Goalie Emma Duguay recorded her third clean sheet of the year with a trio of saves.