By Sean Holohan

MOBILE — And Troy soccer’s magical season continues.

The Trojans advanced to the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Championships Wednesday in Mobile with a 1-0 opening round victory over UL-Lafayette.

The game’s only and deciding goal came in the 57^th minute when junior midfielder Alissa Jones received a pass at midfield and split three defenders to score.

“We’ve worked so hard to get to this point,” Jones said. “At the beginning of the season, our first goal was to make it to the tournament and to make history, it feels great.”

Troy, who entered the game 0-6 all time in Sun Belt Conference Championship play since joining the league in 2005, notched their first ever conference tournament victory.

With the goal, Jones now has 12 goals on the season.

The Trojans couldn’t get much going offensively in the first half and were forced into playing defense for most of the game’s opening 45 minutes.

Troy freshman goalkeeper Mikki Lewis kept the game scoreless in the 23^rd minute with a spectacular, full-extension save.

Lewis finished the game with five saves, and the 1-0 shutout was her 10^th of the season.

After making some adjustments at halftime, the Trojans were able to play more aggressively, firing off 17 shots on goal.

“We played much better in the second half, I think we got 17 shots off, head coach Jason Hamilton said.” “If you get 17 shots in a half, you have a good chance to win the game.”

Troy finished the game with 24 shots on goal, while UL-Lafayette managed just 12.

The Trojans will now face Texas State at 4 p.m. on Friday in Mobile.

Texas State and Troy faced off earlier in the season, with the Bobcats coming away with a 2-0 victory.