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Nicole Panis
LU sophomore receiver Sevonne Rhea was named Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16. The honor – the first of Rhea’s career – marks the third consecutive week a Cardinal has received a weekly superlative.
Rhea, who saw his first significant playing time of the season coming off an injury, received the award for his efforts helping Lamar defeat preseason conference favorite, Southeastern Louisiana, on Oct. 14 in Hammond, Louisiana. Rhea hauled in six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the LU’s 30-24 win. It was the first time in his career that Rhea has hauled in two touchdown passes in the same game, and the third 100-yard receiving game of his career.
The first-place Cardinals enter their off week having won four straight and are 4-3 in Southland Conference play and a perfect 3-0 in league games. Their next game will be Saturday, Oct. 28, against Incarnate Word at Provost Umphrey Stadium at 3 p.m.
Last Sunday, it was a battle of the top two teams in the Southland Conference between the LU soccer team and Texas A&M-Commerce. In brutal wind conditions, this match had everything, including a penalty kick save, two free kick goals, a late equalizer, and an all-time school record in saves tied by Nicole Panis. But when the final whistle blew, the Cardinals and the Lions finished in a 2-2 draw. LU, whose 11-match winning streak ended, though still has their 12-match undefeated streak intact, remains on top of conference standings at 12-2-2 overall and 7-0-1.
LU outshot TAM-C 27-12, including 14-8 shots on goal ratio. Alana Clark and Maddie Janola were the goal scorers for Lamar while Cariel Ellis and Hollie Massey each picked up an assist. With six saves on the day, Panis tied the all-time school record of 328 career saves previously held by Bailey Fontenot.
“I am incredibly proud of our fight this afternoon,” said head coach Nathan Kogut. “It’s truly a tale of two halves when it comes to the wind, and they took advantage of their chance when it came against the wind. We were unfortunate to hit the post twice, but that’s soccer. We picked ourselves off the mat and fought to get the draw and stay in control of our championship chase. We know we can be sharper, and we get back to work this week to face another tough battle in Cor- pus next week."
With only two weeks left in the sea- son, the Cardinals have two more games to go. Their last road game will be at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-6-3, 4-3- 1) on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.