Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — Steve Holeman guided six teams to the NCAA Tournament during his first 22 seasons as a head coach, but he believes this year’s version of the Lamar Cardinals is something special.

“This team has really come together,” Holeman said as the Cardinals prepared to depart for this week’s Southland Conference Tournament in Corpus Christi. “Their attitude is fantastic; their approach is amazing. They are willing to do the extra work it takes to be champions. It’s contagious.”

The Cardinals (15-3-1 overall, 10-1-0 Southland) wrapped up their first regular-season Southland Conference championship with a 4-1 win over McNeese State on Friday. Now the team goes after its first-ever conference tournament title, as they return to the SLC tourney for the first time since 2012.

“If we had made the tournament as the eighth seed, people would have said this had been a successful season,” Holeman said. “But these players weren’t content to just make the tournament. They easily could have taken their foot off the gas after we clinched a spot, but they didn’t. They kept going. We went into that last game knowing that we had already clinched a share of the championship, but they wanted more. They were fully, 100 percent committed to playing their best, and it showed.”

The Cardinals face the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (6-8-3, 3-6-2), who go in as the No. 8 seed, at 8 tonight. LU was a 3-0 winner at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 22, a win that guaranteed the Cardinals at least a share of the regular-season title.

“I am sure that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi remembers that we celebrated on their field,” Holeman said. “We know they’re going to be gunning for us.”

The Cardinals had six players named to the all-conference team, the most LU representatives in the 11-year history of the soccer program.

Forwards Kelso Peskin and Lucy Ashworth along with midfielder M.J. Eckart and defender Marie Lund were first-team selections, while goalkeeper Lauren Lovejoy and defender Amelia Fullmer were named to the second team. Peskin, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, was named the newcomer of the year, while Holeman, who orchestrated a from worst-to-first turnaround in just his second season at the helm, was named coach of the year.

“Our new players really believed in our mission when they came here. They wanted to be a part of history. We told them they could help be the reason we are Southland Conference champions,” Holeman said. “And our returning players really worked hard to make this happen. None of them had ever been to the conference tournament before. I am happy for our seniors, who are finally going to the tournament. I’m happy and excited for them. I’m like a proud parent.”

The tournament gets underway with four games today. Second-seeded Stephen F. Austin faces No. 7 seed Sam Houston State at 11 a.m. Third-seeded McNeese tangles with sixth-seeded Abilene Christian at 2 p.m. No. 4 Central Arkansas faces defending tourney champion Houston Baptist at 5 p.m. before LU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi meet at 8 p.m. to wrap up the day.

The semifinals are set for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, with the championship game scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Sunday. All games will be played at Jack Dugan Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“We look at the tournament as our third season,” Holeman said. “Our non-conference schedule was our first season. That got us ready for conference play, which was our second season. That all got us ready for our third season, the tournament.

“We are going to give it our best. This season has been a blast. None of us want it to end.”