HOUSTON, Texas – From the first whistle Celts imposed their presence, but they were unable to find the game winner until late stages of the game when senior Alexa Noyola (SR/Houston, TX) scored the decisive goal. This win moves the Celts to 2-0 in RRAC and 4-2 overall for the season.

Despite maintaining the possession majority of the first half, Celts failed to materialize this advantage, and LSUA goalkeeper Mortensen proved why she was picked as RRAC defensive player just one week ago. UST held 9 to 2 lead in shots (4 to 1 in shots on goal) over their guests from Louisiana in the first half. Aeriana Lewis (FR/Houston, TX) led the group with two shots on goal, while Katarina Maksimov (JR/Richmond, TX), Kennedy Sessions (JR/Spring, TX) and Mariah Escobar (SR/Houston, TX) all had two shot attempts.

Playing on narrow turf field made it difficult to penetrate very organized and determined defense, but Celts stayed the course and continued to execute the game plan. Defensively, Celts denied any threats and Emma Pinkerton (SR/Kingwood, TX) only had to make one save throughout 90 minutes. Central defenders Mariah Escobar and Sydney Wright (JR/Katy, TX), alongside defensive midfielder Rachael Bell (SR/Houston, TX) made sure any stray long balls were picked up.

Celts forward Siobhan Higgins (SR/Katy, TX) got everyone to their feet as she got in front of the LSUA goal on a breakaway, but her shot was stopped by Mortensen. Finally, in the 69th minute of the game, Rachael Bell received the ball after Celt's throw-in and immediately played the lofted pass towards Alexa Noyola. After a defensive miscue and superb first touch, Noyola slotted the ball pass LSUA goalkeeper for what ended up to be the only goal for the night. Within seconds she was swarmed by her teammates who celebrated the goal together.

"It's a fantastic team win for us, but we can't get carried away as there is still a lot more games to play. Our conference has a lot of quality teams, and it's important to keep our focus. I was impressed with our grit after not being able to find the rhythm and score in first 45 minutes. This says a lot about our players as they kept working hard and fighting for every ball, every possession. I'm glad we eventually found the spark we needed – and tonight it came off the bench," commented after the game head coach Nikola Barjaktarevic.

Shadel Cyrus (SR/Kingstown, St. Vincent and the) and Alexa Noyola were among players that came as substitutes and provided a significant boost for the Celts.

Generals and Celts met twice in 2017, with regular season match up going in favor of LSUA (2-1). LSUA finished the 2017 regular season as champions and met UST in RRAC Tournament semifinals. Celts were able to find the goal in overtime and eventually won the RRAC Tournament Championship.

Celts finished the game with a total of 13 shots, 7 of which found the target. Siobhan Higgins led the pack with three total shots (2 on goal). This is also the second shutout for the Celts and provides them with some much-needed confidence as they prepare to face LSU–Shreveport at Houston Sports Park this Saturday, September 29 at 5:30 pm. Pilots come to this game with a 3-4-1 record (1-0-1 in RRAC). Live Stream for the game is provided by Cooper Sports Network: www.coopersports.net