WKU soccer Head Coach Jason Neidell set a goal for his team before this weekend’s pair of home games: score within the first 15 minutes of play.

Freshman midfielder Torrie Lange’s game-winning goal in the 11th minute of Sunday’s match accomplished the feat.

Lange’s goal was all the Lady Toppers (8-5-2, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference) needed to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette (8-9, 3-5 Sun Belt) by a 1-0 score.

“It was my first goal, so it’s exciting,” Lange said. “But we still have to work hard.”

Neidell said it was great to see, and having it be the difference maker made it that much better.

WKU outshot the Ragin’ Cajuns, 23-9, tallying 10 shots on goal. 

The shutout — the second of the weekend and the 28th of junior goalkeeper Libby Stout’s career — was another step in the right direction, Stout said.

“I really liked our consistency,” she said. “We were able to keep high pressure on teams … We scored a lot of goals this weekend which was something we hadn’t done in a little while.”

Neidell said the weekend sweep has WKU right where it wants to be. The Lady Toppers also notched a 5-0 home win on Friday over Louisiana-Monroe.

Wins on Sunday by WKU, Middle Tennessee and North Texas and a loss by Florida International has the Lady Toppers in a three-way tie for second in the conference behind Denver (8-0 Sun Belt).

“We’re really happy about getting two shutout wins this weekend,” Neidell said. “We knew we were playing two teams whose backs were against the wall a little bit. It was good to see us respond.”

Neidell said he’s pleased that the team’s fate is in its own hands.

If the Lady Toppers win their final three games against Troy, South Alabama and Middle Tennessee, the worst they can finish in the league is second place.