Three Southland Soccer Teams Capture Opening Night Victories
UTSA 8, Prairie View A&M 0
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Junior Taylor Padia (Kingwood, Texas) and sophomore Lindsay South (McKinney, Texas) scored two goals apiece to help lead the UTSA women's soccer team to an 8-0 victory against Alcorn State in the Holiday Inn Waller College Invitational held Friday at Lady Panther Field.
The Roadrunners wasted little time staking an early lead, as senior Allison Dillon connected off a pass from junior Jodi Leroy just 2:35 into the match. Senior Chelsea Zimmerman made it 2-0 after finishing near the midway point of the first half.
Padia then found the back of the net twice in a three-minute span to increase the lead to 4-0. Junior Bonnie Caulfield made it 5-0 with a goal six minutes before the break.
South struck twice in the second half and Laylla da Cruz pushed one past the goalkeeper in the 73rd minute for the final 8-0 tally.
The UTSA defense was solid, allowing just four shots by the Lady Braves, only one on goal.
The eight goals and margin of victory broke the school records of seven set in four games, three times against Texas Southern and once versus Prairie View A&M.
The Roadrunners will face Prairie View A&M at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Southeastern Louisiana 2, Mississippi Valley State 0
HAMMOND, La. - Second-half goals by freshman Tabitha McReynolds and sophomore Kerry McWhirter pushed Southeastern Louisiana to a 2-0 non-conference victory over Mississippi Valley State in the 2010 women's soccer season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at the STYSA Fields.
The Lady Lions (1-0) out-shot Mississippi Valley State (0-1), 21-3, but had trouble finding the net against the Delta Devils. MVSU was led by freshman goalkeeper Shelby Willcocks, who posted 10 saves in her collegiate debut.
The Southeastern backline of senior Brittany Prieto, junior Lauren Crawford, along with freshmen Kelsey Salcido and Shanyce Shaw were effective in limiting Delta Devil opportunities. Junior goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus was credited with three saves, posting her 22nd career shutout - three off the school record and four from the Southland Conference mark.
Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle was pleased with his team's perseverance in the season opener.
"We had to grind this one out against a tough Mississippi Valley State team that played very hard and physical," Hornbuckle commented. "We had numerous chances in the first half and just couldn't finish unfortunately. We kept pushing and Tabitha opened things up with a strong finish and we were able to put it away with a fantastic run by Maiya (Cooper) and Kerry.
"We were extremely pleased with the play of the entire backline, particularly Shanyce and Kelsey," Hornbuckle continued. "Lauren Stillians was outstanding in the central midfield today and did everything we asked of her. Kerry was also a steadying presence on both flanks throughout the match."
Southeastern was on the attack early in the match, as Willcocks turned away several Lady Lion shots in the opening 45 minutes. Sophomore Karly Dagys, Stillians, and Cooper were all turned away, as the teams went into the half scoreless.
The match remained deadlocked until the 73rd minute. Dagys started the scoring opportunity with a shot that deflected off the hands of Willcocks and landed at the feet of senior midfielder Natalie Santana. Santana then ripped a shot from just outside the box that bounced off the far post. The ricochet bounced right to McReynolds, who knocked in her first collegiate goal from point blank range. The assist was the 21st of Santana's career, moving her four away from the league and school record held by Southeastern Hall of Famer Becca Weingartner.
MVSU went on the attack and had a corner kick with two minutes remaining. Dagys came out of the pile with the ball and led Cooper with a long pass down the right flank. Cooper ran it down, settled it and hit McWhirter with a cross. The Olathe, Kan. put it in to end the MVSU upset bid.
Southeastern will return to action on Sunday, hosting Southern Mississippi at 4 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
Stephen F. Austin 2, Louisiana Tech 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team kicked off a new era and a new tradition Friday night. On the strength of goals by Kim Kimmel and Janae Lee, the Ladyjacks took a 2-1 win over Louisiana Tech in the season opener and started the Tony Amato era with a victory.
With the win, Amato becomes the first coach in program history to coach the Ladyjacks to a win in his debut. The victory also marked the start of a new campus tradition as the new purple victory lights atop the Steen Towers were lit for the first time.
Lee's game-winning goal came in the 74th minute and broke a 1-1 tie to complete Stephen F. Austin's come-from-behind win. She found the net from point-blank range following a well-placed corner kick by Becky Johnson that found space in front of the goal. Laura Sadler took a swipe at the ball, but her shot was deflected toward Lee, who finished the chance with a chip over the sprawling Louisiana Tech goalkeeper for her fourth career goal.
"We hadn't played any preseason games, and you can only get so much from training, no matter how much you try to simulate game situations," Amato said. "I thought we started a little slow due to that, but we pulled it together nicely. To go down a goal then come back and win like we did, that's good to see, and it's a great way to start the season."
The Lady Techsters took an early lead with a goal by Taylor Dennis in the seventh minute. She got behind the Stephen F. Austin's defense following a long service from Scotti Culton. Ladyjack goalkeeper Courtney Bauder came out to defend the threat, but Dennis knocked a bouncing ball off Bauder and in for a 1-0 Louisiana Tech lead.
The Ladyjacks got the equalizer off Kimmel's foot in the 19th minute. Kylie Louw made a long run from midfield into Techster territory to start things off. She played the ball ahead for Kimmel who outran the Tech defense to get a one-one-one with 'keeper Cat Buchanan. Buchanan came out to challenge the run, and Kimmel slipped a low shot past her right side and into the net. The goal was the ninth of Kimmel's career.
In addition to assisting on Kimmel's goal, Louw recorded a game-high four shots with one on goal. Jordan King attempted three shots, and Lee took aim twice.
Bauder finished with three saves in her first win of the season.
Stephen F. Austin will return to action Sunday, when the Ladyjacks travel to Houston to take on Rice. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start.
UL-Lafayette 1, McNeese 0
LAKE CHARLES, La. -- McNeese State's women's soccer team gave up an early goal to UL-Lafayette in the first half here Friday night in both team's season opener. That goal would stand as the Cajuns would go on to pick up a 1-0 win.
Allison Baker scored from the left side of the box in the 13th minute off an assists by Courtney Hofland for a 1-0 Cajun lead. The Cowgirls attempted three shots in the first half and four in the second half. The Cajuns were credited with 10 shots in the first half and eight in the second.
McNeese's Johna Germany and Jordan Picou missed scoring opportunities late in the game as Germany's shot in the 84th minute sailed wide and Picou's shot from the left side in the 89th minute was high.
Cowgirl goalie Cassandra Read was credited with eight saves, picking up four in each half. Amanda Moorefield, the Cajuns goalie was credited with three saves in the game.
The Cowgirls (0-1) return to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. game at Baylor.
Tulsa 4, Northwestern State 0
TULSA, Okla. - Four first half goals by Tulsa ignited the Golden Hurricane to a 4-0 shutout win over a wide-eyed youthful Northwestern State team in the season opener for both women's soccer programs Friday night.
Tulsa beat the Lady Demons for the first time in four meetings in the all-time series and avenged last year's 2-0 loss to Northwestern State in Natchitoches.
But despite the blanking, there were several bright spots for the Lady Demons, including the net play of freshman goalkeeper Jessica Danku who played in the box the entire second half and blanked the Golden Hurricane while making three saves.
"She was good for us tonight," said head coach Jimmy Mitchell. "But to be fair to Sam (starting goalkeeper Sam Furlow), we played a lot better in the second half and didn't allow as much pressure on Danku as Sam saw in the first half.
"She (Danku) has a ways to go, but she's going to be very good for us," said Mitchell.
Northwestern played all 14 freshmen on the squad including three in the starting lineup.
Offensively, Northwestern was held to just six shots and three on-goal. Senior forward Sarah Sadler had four of Northwestern State's six shots with two on-goal while junior midfielder Rachel O'Steen had NSU's other two shots.
Tulsa got on the board quick when Kelsey Killion netted a goal from the top of the box just eight minutes into the game to make it 1-0.
Six minutes later, Claire Nicholson made it 2-0 when she dribbled in from the right side and sailed one right over the head of Lady Demon starting goalkeeper Sam Furlow in the 14th minute.
Three minutes later Bradi Hinch took a pass from Kelsey and scored from eight yards out to put Tulsa up 3-0, then a goal by Stephanie Aitken form the top of the box in the 41st minute made the score 4-0.
Sadler had Northwestern's first shot on goal four minutes into the second half then had another shot four minutes later that sailed wide right. Sadler had another scoring opportunity in the 70th minute but the shot went wide once again.
"Tonight was about learning," said Mitchell. "Obviously you'd like to learn with a win, but I saw some good things from our freshmen, especially Ashlee Savona and Danielle Harding. Also, some of our returners are going to need to step it up a bit.
"I was disappointed in the way we played but I know things will be better on Sunday."
The Lady Demons will take on Oral Roberts at 1 o'clock on Sunday.
Nicholls 0, Prairie View A&M 0
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - The Nicholls women's soccer team (0-0-1) found itself in a defensive struggle in their season opening match at the Holiday Inn-Waller College Invitational. The Colonels couldn't break through against the host Prairie View A&M Panthers (0-0-1). Fortunately for Nicholls, their defense proved equally tough, stopping all Prairie View A&M scoring chances through 110 minutes of play as the Colonels and Panthers battled to a 0-0 double overtime final on Friday night.
"We just couldn't score," head coach Dylan Harrison said. "We had a lot of opportunities, but we just couldn't get through. Sometimes you're just unlucky. Defensively, we played well. We only gave them one or two decent chances, but we turned those away and shut down everything else."
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Molly Mersereau recorded her first shutout of the season, turning away every shot she faced.
The Colonels will return to action on Sunday when they face Alcorn State. Kickoff with the Braves is set for 10:00 a.m.
Houston Baptist 1 Sam Houston State 0
HOUSTON -- Houston Baptist forward Cindy Hadden lofted a desperation shot from 18 yards into the far right corner of the goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 women's soccer victory over Sam Houston Friday night.
The contest was the season opener for both teams. Sam Houston dominated the game offensively with multiple scoring chances but the Kats never could put the goal in the back of the net.
"It was unbelievable," Sam Houston head coach Tom Brown said. "We had six shots on goal to their three with two really good scoring opportunities and some other that could have developed into something. This is a tough one."
Four times in the first half, Sam Houston had open shots, the most promising a one-on-one attack by freshman forward Emily Edenstrom that ended in the goalkeeper's hands.
Sophomore Kirby Zak also had a couple of excellent chances that were saved.
The winning goal came after a long punt by the HBU goalkeeper that the Bearkat defense was unable to clear and Hadden picked up for the score.
Goalkeeper Jenny Pence made a dive but the shot slipped past. Pence made three big saves during the game including one just two minutes into the second half that kept the score 0-0.
"Jenny made a big-time save on a header after a cross to the far post," Brown said.
The Bearkats continue action Sunday at 7 p.m. when they travel to play the University of Houston.
UL-Monroe 1, Central Arkansas 0
MONROE, La - The University of Central Arkansas women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 setback to ULM in Monroe, La. on Friday in the 2010 season opener for both teams.
The Bears (0-1) surrendered a goal to ULM freshman Ashley Moore in the 30th minute, which would prove to be the only score of the game and enough for the Warhawks (1-0) to win their fourth straight season opener.
The Bears had several opportunities to tie the game, outshooting the Warhawks 10-8 and doubling ULM in shots on goal 6-3 - but none would get past ULM keeper Alex Holland. Senior Cori Kaplinger led UCA with two shots on goal.
The Bears will travel to Alcorn State next Thursday before returning to Conway for their home opener against UALR on Sept. 1.