BOCA RATON, Fla. – The magical career of All-America candidate Martha Thomas continued to shine Friday, as the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year tallied the lone goal for the second-straight match. Her second-half strike was the difference in a 1-0 No. 8-seed Charlotte victory over No. 4-seed Louisiana Tech at the Conference USA Championships, putting the 49ers in the final for the second-consecutive year.

Thomas, who scored with just under three minutes left in regulation to hand top-seeded and No. 21 Rice a 1-0 setback in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, was back at it again in Friday’s semifinals against the Lady Techsters. This time, she left a little more time on the clock but a solid overall defensive effort, spearheaded by two saves from All-Conference USA Freshman Team selection Abby Stapleton, closed out the team’s second shutout in-a-row.

With Charlotte (11-8-1) controlling much of the run of play throughout the 90 minutes, a foul called on Louisiana Tech set up the clincher in the 60th minute. Thomas assumed her position to take the free kick from 30 yards out. Not wasting any time, she blasted home a shot, letting it ricochet off the left post and behind goalie Courtney Tompkins.

For Thomas, it marked her 14th career game-winning goal. Another school record. She now owns four career program marks, including goals, points, shots and game-winning goals.

It was the exclamation point on a stellar outing by the entire squad. Stapleton and the 49ers’ defense was lightly challenged in the clean sheet and the Niners mounted pressure points after pressure points on the Lady Techsters’ cage at the opposite end.

The only two Louisiana Tech (14-3-5) shots on goal were corralled easily by Stapleton, as Charlotte tied a school record with its fourth-straight Conference USA Championships victory dating back to last year’s title run. The only other time the 49ers won four-in-a-row during the event was in their very first four games: three in 1995 on the way to the crown and the quarterfinals against Louisville.

Thomas’ two goals in the event also match a program record for an individual in a single tournament, a feat accomplished now seven times with the previous most recent by Amanda Jones in 2013.

Thomas’ 13 scores this fall match her best for a year, from her sophomore campaign in 2015, while tying for fourth on the school’s single-season list.

Her 33 points rank sixth on the single-season points chart in program history and are the most by any Charlotte individual since Hailey Beam’s 47 in 2008. Thomas and Beam are two of only three players in school history, along with Whitney Weinraub, with multiple 30-point campaigns.

Thomas’ 88 shots list her second on the single-season rankings, trailing only her own program high of 92 from her sophomore year in 2015.

The Niners become the lowest seed in Conference USA Championships history to reach the final and the first as a No. 8.

Meanwhile, Charlotte has advanced into the finals without conceding a goal in the first time in its Conference USA Championships history through the semifinal round. Stapleton is the first freshman goalie in school history with consecutive shutouts in C-USA Tournament history.

The 49ers now await the winner of the other semifinal between No. 2-seed North Texas and No. 6-seed and host Florida Atlantic.

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