COMMERCE, Texas -- Midwestern State jumped out to an early lead Friday night in the semifinal round of the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament at the Lion Soccer Field.
 
But top-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce banged in two goals in a six-minute stretch late in the opening then held on for a 2-1 win.
 
The Lions advance to play Angelo State in the final round Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. as the Rambelles used a hat trick by Sierra Anderson to claim a 3-1 win over Eastern New Mexico earlier Friday afternoon.
 
"The girls performed extremely well today," MSU coach Damian Clarke said. "You have to take your hat off to Commerce. They are a dangerous team. The few opportunities they created, they took extremely well. At the end of the day, the girls played as good of a football game as we could have asked them to play. The girls were able to walk away knowing they have grown a lot. No one is happy without getting the result in a game we played so well."
 
Junior forward Ashley Cottrell sent a pass out wide to Destinee Williamson in the game's sixth minute. The freshman from Bedford used her speed to get around the A&M-Commerce defense and dribbled around goalkeeper Courtnie Northern for her ninth goal of the campaign.
 
"She was able to take that last touch before the keeper and finished it," Clarke said. "It probably came a little bit early and that can sometimes be difficult (to hold a lead)."
 
Texas A&M-Commerce rallied for the equalizer in the 32nd minute on a combination of passes from Savannah Henderson through Jade Bell resulting in Anitra Wright's second goal of the season to knot the match at 1-1.
 
Henderson gave the Lions the lead with her team-high 13th goal of the season in the 38th minute and she knocked in a loose ball resulting off of a blocked shot.
 
Midwestern State ends the season at 8-6-5, but advanced to LSC postseason play for the 19th consecutive season.
 
"Going through the heartache of this year with the processes we have seen, we will definitely be a strong team heading into next year," Clarke said. "We've be through the painful piece. I am very proud to be a part of this year."
 
Senior Katy Catney closes her career with eight goals and 12 assists in 80 games as a member of two Lone Star Conference championship teams which twice advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament.
 
"We are all very proud of her," Clarke said. "She did a lot to pin them in and connected passes for us tonight which is what we believe in."
 
Texas A&M-Commerce claimed its sixth straight win to improve to 14-5.