Nicholls, UTSA Notch Non-Conference Wins
Nicholls 8, Alcorn State 0
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Senior forward Kaity Mattsson recorded the first four-goal game in school history and four other Colonels joined her in the scoring column as the Nicholls women's soccer team (1-0-1) picked up its first win of the 2010 season with an 8-0 victory over Alcorn State at the Holiday Inn-Waller Invitational hosted by Prairie View A&M.
The win was the first victory for the Colonels away from Thibodaux since a 6-0 over Alabama A&M at the 2009 Jacksonville State tournament last Sept. 11. The Colonels outshot the Braves 27-2, allowing just two shots on goal and recording their second straight clean sheet.
"Getting that first road win, not allowing any goals on the weekend is important" head coach Dylan Harrison said. "Now everyone knows what's expected of them when we travel. We still need to work on creating and finishing chances early in the game. We didn't score until the 42nd minute today. If we can create and score earlier, we will have control of more games."
The Colonels had chances early on but could not immediately finish against the Braves. However, once the Colonels broke through in the 42nd minute, they would not let up the rest of the game.
Mattsson got things going by collecting a pass from junior midfielder Carolyn Noble and finding the back of the net in the 42nd minute to put Nicholls up 1-0. Mattsson and Noble would connect again five minutes later as Noble found Mattsson for a 47th minute strike to make it 2-0. With her pair of assists on the day, Noble notched her fourth career multi-assist game (the most of any Colonel soccer player) and moved into sole possession of third place on the Colonels' all-time assist list with ten in her career. Noble remains one behind Alicia Gautreau (2006-2009) for second all-time and four behind all-time leader Tori Priddy (2003-2006).
Mattsson struck again in the 51st and 61st minutes with assists on both goals coming from freshman midfielder Nicole Doherty. Mattsson, who recorded the first three-goal game in Colonel soccer history in last year's 6-0 win over Alabama A&M, became the first soccer player in Nicholls history to record a four-goal game.
Mattsson's final two goals also marked the first points of Doherty's college career, put Nicholls up 4-0 and added to Mattsson's school records for career goals and points, which now stand at 23 and 52, respectively.
The Colonels would add four more goals on the morning as junior midfielder/forward Alana DeHart put home a chance, assisted by junior midfielder Sam Etherington, in the 62nd minute. One minute later, Doherty notched the first goal of her college career (and brought her point total on the day to four) by putting home a chance on an assist from senior defender Allison Mylius. Freshman Katie DeHart scored in the 79th on an assist by classmate Melissa Pestalozzi, and freshman Janelle Brandom put home a chance on an assist from senior defender Allison Flynn in the 83rd to cap the scoring on the day.
The Colonels will now return to Louisiana for a midweek matchup against Southern in Baton Rouge on Friday, Aug. 27. Nicholls will open the home portion of their 2010 schedule by hosting Jackson State on Sept. 3.
UTSA 4, Prairie View A&M 1
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Seniors Laurel Dierking (Bastrop, Texas) and Allison Dillon (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and freshmen Laylla da Cruz (Ouro Branco, Brazil) and Anka Grotle (Flora, Norway) scored a goal apiece to help lead the UTSA women's soccer team to a 4-1 victory against Prairie View A&M on Sunday at Lady Panther Field.
The Roadrunners improved to 2-0 on the season with their second victory at the Holiday Inn Waller College Invitational and third all-time win against Prairie View A&M. The Lady Panthers fell to 0-1-1.
UTSA struck for its first goal quickly as da Cruz took a pass from freshman Maria Jose Rojas and found the back of the net just 23 seconds into the match.
Grotle increased the lead to 2-0 17 minutes later when she scored off a double assist from senior Chelsea Zimmerman and freshman Valentina Lefort.
Dillon posted her second goal of the young season in the 24th minute off another double assist, this one from Grotle and da Cruz.
The Lady Panthers got on the scoreboard with a goal by Yosselyn Aguliar in the 33rd minute, but Dierking pushed the lead back to three goals in the 41st minute off an assist from redshirt freshman Kimber Chudej.
UTSA out-shot Prairie View A&M, 26-14, and took 10 corner kicks compared to just two for the Lady Panthers.
The Roadrunners return to action on Friday, Aug. 27, when they travel to Austin to face Texas.
Oral Roberts 3, Northwestern State 1
TULSA, Okla. - An early goal by Northwestern State freshman Ashlee Savona started the Lady Demons out on the right foot, but things went south in the second half as Oral Roberts netted three unanswered goals to slip by Northwestern 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
"We played much better than what we did on Friday," said Northwestern head coach Jimmy Mitchell. "We had a good first half today and really took control of the game."
The Lady Demons (0-2) got their first goal of the season just 3:34 into the game when freshman Ashlee Savona took a pass from Kayla King, dribbled to the right corner, and knocked it into the open net to give NSU a 1-0 lead.
"That was a great goal by Ashlee off of a terrific pass from Kayla," said Mitchell. "We had some other chances in the half but we just couldn't finish it off."
Oral Roberts (2-0) came out strong in the second half and netted back-to-back goals from Mary-Kate Halsmer in a 5-minute span to put the Golden Eagles up 2-1 in the 58th minute. Lorena Soto scored the final goal with three seconds to play in the game to make it 3-1.
"They (ORU) changed their formation in the second half and we didn't adapt well," said Mitchell. "On Friday we gave up three goals in a 10 minute span and today, we allowed two goals in five minutes. That's the mark of a young team. But we were much improved from Friday."
Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Danku played the entire 90 minutes after pitching a shutout in the second half of Friday's game. She held Oral Roberts scoreless in the first half on Sunday but allowed three second half goals to go along with four saves.
"She made some mistakes, but that's expected early on," said Mitchell of Danku. "She's going to be good for us. She just has to keep getting better each game."
Northwestern State had several scoring opportunities in the second half but none that could find the open net.
The Lady Demons had eight shots for the game with four on goal while Oral Roberts finished with 12 shots and seven on goal.
Savona and King each had two shots with one each on goal as Theresa Halle and Marissa Lees each had shots on goal.
And for their play over the weekend, Savona and senior Sarah Sadler were both named to the All-Tournament team.
The Lady Demons return to action on Friday when they open their home season against Texas Tech at 7 p.m. at the Demon Soccer Complex.
Baylor 7, McNeese 0
WACO, Texas - McNeese State's Cowgirls knew they would be in for a tall task here Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 loss at Baylor.
"We knew this would be one of our more difficult challenges of the season because of their style of play and rotation of players. The 105 degree heat index didn't help either," said head coach Scooter Savoie.
The Cowgirls gave up a goal in the 32nd minute on a header off a cross that sailed over Cowgirl keeper Cassandra Read's head for a 1-0 Baylor lead. The 1-0 Baylor lead would hold for the half.
"We played toe to toe with them in the first half. We dug in and held our own well."
The second half was all Baylor as the Bears scored six goals with the first three coming in the 50th minute. Two of three goals during this span were scored off rebounds.
"In the second half, we gave up an early goal then we made mistakes which led to a goal followed by another goal."
The Bears added another goal in the 69th minute then concluded their scoring with two more goals in the 70th minute with both coming off a crosses.
"We knew what the risk was coming into this game but we played with character throughout the contest."
McNeese (0-2) returns home this Friday to host Grambling at 7 p.m and Houston at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Louisiana Tech 1, Lamar 0
BEAUMONT, Texas - Goalkeeper Jennifer Gibbs made nine saves, but it wasn't enough as the Lamar University women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to visiting Louisiana Tech in the season opener Sunday.
Taylor Dennis scored the game's only goal, beating Gibbs to convert a 3-on-1 opportunity just 10:27 into the game. Kiva Gresham picked up the assist for the Lady Techsters (1-1-0).
Grace Bowman had two shots for Lamar (0-1-0), which opened the season at home for the first time in the four-year history of the program. Caitlin Updike made six saves to earn the shutout for Louisiana Tech.
Lamar returns to action at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29, when it travels to Louisiana Lafayette. The next home game for the Lady Cardinals is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 3, when UT Brownsville comes in for a non-conference game.
Rice 3, Stephen F. Austin 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team gave up a quick goal for the second time in as many games. Unlike in Friday's season opener, though, Stephen F. Austin was unable to recover, falling, 3-1, against Rice in its first road contest of the year.
The Ladyjacks (1-1-0) found themselves behind early in Friday's game against Louisiana Tech but rallied for a 2-1 win. Sunday, Rice (1-1-0) backed up its first-half goal with a pair of late strikes to seal the win.
Rice got a goal from Kate Edwards in the eighth minute to take an early lead. The scoring strike came from close range on an assist by Jordan Holloway.
Stephen F. Austin attempted four shots in the first half but failed to register a shot on goal. The Owls put two more shots on target but Ladyjack goalkeeper Courtney Bauder stopped both and the game went to the half with Rice ahead, 1-0.
The defenses held sway early in the second half with the teams combining for just two shots on goal through the first 28 minutes. But Rice broke the game open with a goal in the 74th minute and another five minutes later.
Jessica Howard bicycled home a long cross for the first scoring strike.
Edwards found the net for the second time in the 79th minute, slipping a shot past Bauder's left side. Hope Ward assisted on both the Owls' second-half goals.
Kylie Louw got SFA on the board when she scored in the 87th minute. Camille Royer set the play in motion with a long cross that Louw finished for her first goal of the season.
Louw and Jordan King were the lone Ladyjacks to register multiple shot attempts. Each player took two shots, landing one on goal.
Rice finished with a 17-7 advantage in shots.
Bauder (1-1-0) registered three saves with three goals against in 80 minutes. Freshman Lacey Lee played the final 10 minutes of the contest, recording one save.
The Ladyjacks will return to action Friday when they host Arkansas in a 7 p.m. contest at the SFA Soccer Complex.
Houston 1, Sam Houston State 0
HOUSTON -- For the second time in three days, the Sam Houston women's soccer fell 1-0 in a non-conference road match.
Sunday's narrow loss to the University of Houston showed much improvement by the Bearkats who fell 1-0 to Houston Baptist in the season opener Friday.
"We did a lot of good things tonight," head coach Tom Brown said. "Jenny Pence had a big-time game in goal and our defense did a good job of shutting them down. We definitely showed some progress tonight."
The Cougars, who defeated Houston Baptist 7-0 in their opening game, came into the contest with a reputation as a high scoring, attack minded team. The Cougars out-shot the Bearkats 16-8 but soaked up all the pressure UH could hand out.
"Houston has a lot of skilled plays," Brown said. "We did a good job collectively as a team closing down the spaces they were trying to create. And Jenny made two or three big saves for us."
The Cougars' goal came in the 20th minute when Kyle Cook was able to chip a ball back across the backline diagonally to the top of the goalie box. Adelman cut in front of a defender and was able to settle the ball and knock it in the net for her second career goal.
Houston struggled to find a rhythm, often finding themselves a touch or two away from creating a scoring opportunity. The chances came in waves during the final ten minutes as the Cougars tested Pence with a barrage of shots.
"It's early in the season and I'm always happy to earn a win but I do think we struggled tonight to find a rhythm," said head coach Susan Bush. "Sam Houston played very well and put us under pressure. I'm not going to complain too much but we have a lot to work on and our road trip starts Friday."
Hilary Ackerman forced the UH goalkeeper to make two saves and Kirby Zak and Catherine Abitua also had shots that were on goal.
Texas Tech 2, Texas State 0
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas State women's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season in a 2-0 shutout Sunday night to Texas Tech at the John Walker Soccer Complex. The Bobcats fell to 0-1 after the season-opening defeat, while Tech improved to a 2-0 record.
The Red Raiders held a 23-11 shot advantage over the Bobcats, including 11 shots on goal.
Taylor Lytle gave Texas Tech the early lead at 37:22 after taking a pass from Mallory Yacullo. Lytle dribbled past the Bobcats defense to place the ball in the lower pocket of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Texas State tried to make up the deficit early on in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Emma Staley fired a free kick well on target, but Colleen Pitts managed to tip the ball just over the cross bar for the save.
In the following minute, Dawn Ward and Sarah Ellison teamed up with Ellison connecting 18 yards out just past Bobcat keeper Lauren Frazier to give Tech a 2-0 lead.
Despite seven shot attempts in the second half and three corners, the Bobcats could not trim the lead.
Frazier recorded nine saves with a pair of goals allowed in 90 minutes.
Pitts logged her second-straight shutout and eight saves in tonight's victory.
The Bobcats will return to action next weekend at the 13th Annual Miners' Classic hosted by UTEP in El Paso, Texas. The two-day tournament set to begin Friday will pit the Bobcats against Utah Valley at 3 p.m. and Fresno State Sunday at 11 a.m.