Final Stats

LA Tech vs. WKU box score

LA Tech season stats

RUSTON - Sophomore Kailee Hervey was the only substitution for Louisiana Tech in the first half and it paid off as she knocked in a diving header late in the first period for the 1-0 win against WKU on Friday night at the Lady Techster Soccer Complex.

The LA Tech (11-5-2, 3-4-1 C-USA) defense was just as stellar as the effort by Hervey on the game winner, allowing just five shots the entire match.

"We knew it was a pressure game and WKU wanted to win just as bad," head coach Kevin Sherry said. "It was a very physical battle, but we were solid on defense and were able to come out with a win."

It took over 15 minutes into the match for the first shot to be taken by either team. At the 28th minute mark, Hervey subbed in for Annabel Prior initially to float in midfield to direct punts and headers.

Both teams were playing terrific defense in the early going, but the Lady Techsters earned the first corner kick of the game with just five minutes left to play in the first half after putting high pressure in the attacking third.

Brittany Beddow delivered a short kick to Erica Stewart on the right wing. Stewart then drove the ball low and it touched off the WKU keeper and hit the post before going out of bounds, awarding another corner. This time, Beddow bent the set piece into the box where Hervey placed the diving header into the back of the net for her fifth goal of the season.

"A lot of goals are scored from set pieces in soccer," Sherry said. "We saw that we needed someone in midfield to win the headers and that is what Kailee was brought in to do initially, but having her and Donya on the field at the same time gave us that extra heading ability for set plays. It was a great goal."

For the rest of the match, the backline of LA Tech communicated and stayed organized, allowing just two shots in the entire second period. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Kylee Seto was sharp in net and aggressive in charging out of her box to run down balls before WKU's (9-6, 4-4 C-USA) forwards could pounce.

With the victory, the Techsters earned a crucial three points to bring their conference total to 10 with two matches left to go.

LA Tech continues its home stand on Sunday at 12 p.m. versus Marshall.

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