McNeese State 1, Nicholls 0
THIBODAUX, La. - McNeese State's women's soccer team clinched a spot in next week's Southland Conference Tournament here today with a 1-0 win over Nicholls State. The Cowgirls will be one of six teams playing for the right to represent the Southland Conference in the NCAA Tournament in this week's Southland Conference Tournament.
"This was a very big win for us as it qualifies us for the Southland Conference Tournament. We've had a great run at the end of the season, we put ourselves in a hole the beginning of the Southland race but have played well in the last couple of weeks to go into the tournament on a four game winning streak," said head coach Scooter Savoie.
Audrey LaLanne's third goal of the season and second game winning goal of the season proved to be enough for the Cowgirl victory. After a scoreless first half, LaLanne scored the goal in the 56th minute off a Jana Barrow assist. McNeese outshot the Colonels 19-10, attempting 10 shots in the first half and nine in the second. Cowgirl goalie Cassandra Read picked up her fifth shutout of the season and turned back what would have been the tying goal in the 85th minute. Nicholls' Sam Etherington attempted a header but Read made the save to secure the Cowgirl win.
"We found the back of the net ten minutes into the half and that turned out to be the difference in the match."
Alana Clark led the Cowgirls' attack with seven shots, Barrow followed with four shots. LaLanne and Lindsey Zwahr were credited with two apiece.
"The key to our victory today was controlling the midfield which allowed us to control the ball."
The Cowgirls will enter this week's Southland Conference Tournament in Natchitoches as the sixth seed. The Cowgirls will face third seed Stephen F. Austin at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the tournament's opening game.
Northwestern State 1, Sam Houston State 0
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The Northwestern State soccer team did all it could do to stay in the hunt for a Southland Conference tournament berth as Melodie Johnson scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Sam Houston State Sunday afternoon, but a 1-0 McNeese State win over Nicholls eliminated Northwestern State from a postseason berth.
The Bearkats drop to 8-9-2, 5-4 after clinching the number four seed in the Southland Conference tournament that starts Nov. 5 at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex. With the win, the Lady Demons end the season at 11-9, 4-5, finishing seventh in conference.
Northwestern State's Johnson scored the game-winner after a scoreless first half that did not entail much offense. Both teams combined for just 13 shots in the first half before Johnson netted the lone goal of the game in the 74th minute. Marissa Lees found Johnson to earn the assist in the Lady Demons' effort to stay alive for the Southland tournament.
"We played a little frustrated in the first half trying to find space on the field," 11th-year head coach Jimmy Mitchell said. "We settled down in the second half and made some adjustments to create chances and Melodie took advantage."
The shutout was the 10th this season for the Lady Demon defense, giving up just one goal in the 11 wins.
Southland Conference goalkeeper of the week Lindy Strahan played 90 minutes of shutout soccer, collecting six saves. Her counterpart, Jenny Pence, allowed the only goal while gathering three saves as the Bearkat defense allowed Northwestern to attempt only four shots on goal.
McNeese jumped to 4-4 in conference play with one game remaining as MSU's Friday night game against Southeastern Louisiana was postponed due to inclement weather in the Hammond area.
The Lady Demons look to next season losing seven seniors, but have numerous young players returning.
"We are proud of our seniors and we are sorry to be losing them," Mitchell said. "I know our younger players will step up and fill a big void and we are looking forward to that. We will continue to work, trying to improve to have a better turnout."
One of the things that plagued Northwestern State throughout the season was injuries. Senior Lacie Hughes missed a significant amount of time after suffering a knee injury just four minutes into the match against Oklahoma State.
"We were 9-3 with Lacie in the lineup," Mitchell said of the senior. "Without Lacie we were 2-6. When we got her back we found an emotional lift. Not having (Heather) Burt was a big factor because that took away some depth and we would have had an answer with her in the lineup.
Southeastern Louisiana 4, Lamar 0
HAMMOND, La. - Playing in the final home match of their career, all four Southeastern Louisiana seniors scored a goal or recorded an assist, as the Lady Lions closed out the 2009 regular season with a 4-0 victory over Lamar in Southland Conference women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
Seniors Candice Wallace and Gloria Burkhart each scored a goal and added an assist for Southeastern (12-4-1, 6-1-1 Southland), while fellow seniors Dana Mayer and Jenna Oney were each credited with assists. Freshman Karly Dagys knocked in the final two goals for the Lady Lions and junior Nicole Brannigan and freshman Kerry McWhirter were both credited with assists, as Southeastern knocked Lamar (4-13-1, 3-6 Southland) from Southland Conference Tournament contention.
With the victory, Southeastern clinched the second seed and a first-round bye in the Southland Conference Tournament, scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday next week in Natchitoches. Southeastern will play Friday at 4:30 p.m., facing the winner of Thursday's first round match between third-seeded Stephen F. Austin and sixth-seeded McNeese State at 4:30 p.m. Should the Lady Lions win on Friday, they would advance to Sunday's final round at 1 p.m. with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
"We had a great team effort today and this win is a great way to send out our seniors and serves as great preparation for the Southland Conference Tournament," Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. "We defended well collectively and our four seniors, along with Karly and (freshman) Maiya Cooper were driving forces in our attack. We did a great job of creating scoring chances and more importantly finishing those opportunities. Lacey Bockhaus was tremendous in goal for us. She made good decisions and continues to be a rock for us in the net.
"Our senior class has shined during their four years in our program," Hornbuckle added. "They have exceeded our expectations, did the things necessary to be successful and displayed the ability to bounce back from adversity. We're going to miss Gloria's strong left foot and her ability to create scoring opportunities. Jenna's drive and determination will also be sorely missed. We will miss the workrate, leadership and ability to slice through the defense of Candice. Dana is the consummate student-athlete, who is an extremely bright player and will be missed for her willingness and desire to put the team's interests first."
With six assists in the match, Southeastern set a new single-season school record with 55 assists on the year, as the Lady Lions finished the regular season having outscored their competition, 53-9. Ranking among the national leaders in scoring offense and defense, the Lady Lions have 11 shutouts on the year. Bockhaus, who finished with four saves on Sunday, has 10 shutouts - besting the nine she had as a freshman in 2008 - to go with a 0.53 goals against average.
The first goal of the match was set up by a strong attack from the Lady Lions and a fine defensive effort by Lamar. With just under seven minutes gone by, Dagys beat Lamar goalkeeper Jennifer Gibbs but her shot was blocked by a Lamar defender. The rebound fell at the feet of Cooper, but her shot attempt also was knocked away by a Lady Cardinal back, though it did set up a corner kick for Southeastern.
Burkhart played a nice ball to the back side and Wallace headed it in for a 1-0 Southeastern lead. The goal was the sixth of the season for the Guelph, Ont. native and the 20th of her career, making her the second student-athlete in school history, along with Southeastern Hall of Famer Becca Weingartner to reach both the 20-goal and 20-assist marks in a career.
Wallace also moved past former Lady Lion Ashley Strine into fifth place in school history with 63 career points and also entered the top five in school history with the sixth game-winning goal of her career. The assist was the eighth of the season for Burkhart, which represents the sixth-highest single-season total in school history.
Southeastern doubled its lead in the 10th minute. After a Lamar foul near midfield, sophomore Kyle MacIntosh played a free kick that was run down by Oney. Oney sent a pass to a charging Mayer from the back and Mayer found a wide-open Burkhart, who charged in and drilled a shot past Gibbs for her third goal of the season and a 2-0 lead that the Lady Lions would maintain until halftime.
Southeastern put any chances of a Lamar comeback to rest 15 minutes into the second half. Brannigan used her strong right leg to drill a shot from the back that Dagys ran down and finished to push the Lady Lion advantage to 3-0.
Dagys capped the scoring in the 81st minute. Wallace started the run by taking a ball from a Lamar player and pushing the ball into the Cardinal side of the field. She then found a streaking McWhirter on the right flank. McWhirter hit a high ball that bounced over the Lamar defense, allowing Dagys to have an uncontested shot into the net. The seventh goal of the season - and fourth in Southland play - by the Oakville, Ont. native pushed Southeastern's final margin to 4-0. The assist allowed Wallace to become the fifth student-athlete in school history with nine or more assists in a season and gave her 23 assists for her career - two off the school's career record held by Weingartner.
Stephen F. Austin 1, Central Arkansas 0
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin took a 1-0 win over Central Arkansas Sunday to hold steady in the Southland Conference standings and finish in a second-place tie for the second straight year. The senior day win assured the Ladyjacks of the No. 3 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament in Natchitoches, La.
SFA set a new season-high for the third consecutive game with 36 shots attempted, but the only goal scored in the contest was an own-goal by Central Arkansas in the ninth minute. With the Bears held to just four shots, the one goal was enough for SFA (9-8-1, 6-2-1 Southland).
"It wasn't the prettiest game in the world, but I was happy to see us continue to attack until the final minute of the game," SFA head coach George Van Linder said.
The win leaves the Ladyjacks tied with Southeastern Louisiana for second place in the conference. By virtue of the Lions' head-to-head win over SFA, they earned the tiebreaker edge and the No. 2 seed in the Southland Tournament. The Ladyjacks will open tournament play Thursday afternoon against No. 6 McNeese State.
Sunday's game-winning goal was scored by a Central Arkansas player trying to break up a nice SFA combo. Junior Kim Kimmel sent a nice crossing pass through the box for senior Megan Cash, who was streaking in unmarked from the left side. With Cash staring down an empty net, a Bears player slid in front of the play and inadvertently knocked the ball across the end line.
The Ladyjacks kept on the attack, posting 12 first-half shots and 24 after the break. Cash led all players with 10 attempts, eight of which were on goal. Freshman Kylie Louw attempted eight shots. Seniors Kelli Wilson and Brenna Crockett fired three shots each.
For the game, SFA posted 17 shots on goal to one for UCA (7-11-1, 1-8-0 Southland).
"Sometimes it can be emotionally difficult to stay focused for your last game at home, but I thought all three seniors did a good job, as expected," Van Linder said.
Cash, Wilson and Crockett were honored in a brief ceremony following the conclusion of Sunday's game. The three seniors have been a part of 40 wins, a Southland Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in their time at SFA.
The Ladyjacks' Southland Tournament game against McNeese is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start Thursday. The victor will move on to meet No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana in the semifinals Friday afternoon. The other first-round game will pit No. 4 Sam Houston State against No. 5 UTSA with the winner slated to take on No. 1 Texas State Friday night.
Courtesy: Southland.org
