Nicholls, Texas State Claim Victories in Overtime
Nicholls 3, Louisiana-Monroe 2 (2OT)
MONROE, La. - Senior forward Kaity Mattsson delivered her eighth goal of the season in the sixth minute of overtime as the Nicholls women's soccer team (4-0-1) rallied to take a 3-2 win in a back-and-forth thriller at the University of Louisiana-Monroe (2-3) on Sunday afternoon.
The Colonels continue the best start to a season in school history. Since the founding of the program in 1998, no Nicholls women's squad has been undefeated through the first five matches of the year. After opening the season with a 0-0 double overtime tie at Prairie View, Nicholls has rattled off four consecutive victories, also a school record. Meanwhile, the Colonels have already tied the school's single season wins record; reached in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
However, Nicholls would have to come from behind early, withstand a furious ULM comeback bid late, and deliver under pressure in overtime to keep its streak intact.
It was the Warhawks who would strike first as Tiffany Bombard notched her first goal of the season at the 15:43 mark to stake ULM to a 1-0 lead. It was the first goal of the year allowed by Colonel netminder Molly Mersereau. The redshirt junior goalkeeper logged 270:43 of scoreless action before giving up her first of the year.
Fortunately, Nicholls quickly rebounded as the Colonel attack pressed forward and generated four shots over the next ten minutes before finally breaking through in the 26th minute. A corner kick by junior midfielder Sam Etherington led to a header attempt in the box by Mattsson. Mattsson's attempt was rejected by the crossbar, but junior midfielder Carolyn Noble gathered the rebound and buried her first goal of the year to tie the score at 1-1 at the 25:13 mark.
Nicholls stayed on the attack the rest of the half, outshooting the Warhawks 10-3 in the first half (16-12 on the day), and the Colonels broke through right before the half as freshman forward Alexandra Marino delivered her first career goal with a low runner past the keeper from just outside the box. Marino's first career strike put Nicholls up 2-1 in the 40th minute.
The second half would prove to be a defensive struggle, even as ULM looked to press forward for a chance at getting back into the match. Neither side could break through in the first 35 minutes of the second half, but ULM finally evened things up in the 81st minute on a goal by Alyssa Lopez. The Colonel defense saw six more Warhawk shots during the second half, four of which were on net and saved by Mersereau, to preserve the tie and send the match to overtime.
Nicholls withstood a golden scoring chance by ULM as the Warhawks drew a corner kick in the second minute of overtime, but the resulting header attempt by the Warhawks went over the crossbar, and the Colonel defense blocked a shot in the fourth minute of the extra frame to keep the match tied.
The Colonels then capitalized on an opportunity of their own as Nicholls drew a corner kick on the other end at the start of the 96th minute. Etherington's first corner attempt was knocked out of bounds by the ULM defense to set up another. This time, Etherington's corner found Noble who set up Mattsson for her eighth goal of the season at the 95:54 mark. Mattsson's goal was her Southland Conference leading eighth overall, and her league-leading third game-winning goal of the season.
The Nicholls defense shut down the ULM attack over the last four minutes to preserve the 3-2 win.
Nicholls will return to action on Friday Sept. 10 when they visit another in-state rival. The Colonels will travel to UL-Lafayette for a 7 p.m. kickoff with the Cajuns.
Texas State 3, Navy 2 (2OT)
SAN MARCOS, Texas- Texas State clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to win their first home game of the season in double overtime over visiting Navy. The Bobcats improve their record to 2-3-0 while Navy falls to 2-2-1.
"Navy really took it to us in the first half and a little bit in the second," said head coach Kat Conner. We started to catch a rhythm and gain confidence as the game progressed. We really got into the game and it showed in the last 25 minutes and carried into overtime."
The Bobcats were down 2-0 in the second half when a penalty kick by Kelsey Bernard in the 67th minute brought them back into the game. Six minutes later, the Bobcats tied up the game with a goal by Taylor Kelley from the right side.
Neither team was able win the game in regulation, forcing overtime. With the score still tied at the end of the first overtime period, it was forced to go into a second overtime. With three minutes remaining in the final overtime period, Britney Curry sent a cross from the deep left side that was deflected in by Erica Michaud to give the Bobcats the 3-2 victory. The goal marked Michaud's first of the season.
"Serena (Hines) came up really big for us today and played a great role. I am really proud of her, as well as Felicia Leask who did a nice job. Erica (Michaud), who also played amazing on Friday night, brought the same momentum into today's game. Hopefully, our pace will carry into next weekend."
Texas State hits the road next weekend to play Louisiana Tech on Friday and Grambling State on Sunday. The Bobcats return to San Marcos on Friday, Sept. 17 to host Prairie View A&M.
Southeastern Louisiana 4, Southern 0
HAMMOND, La. - Southeastern Louisiana junior goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus took sole possession of the school's career shutout record and sophomore forward Maiya Cooper scored two goals to help the Lady Lion women's soccer team remain undefeated with a 4-0 win over Southern Sunday afternoon at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
The Lady Lions (4-0) completely dominated the match versus the visiting Lady Jaguars (0-3-1), opening the season with four straight victories for the third time in school history. Southeastern kept the ball on its side of the field virtually the entire match and out-shot Southern, 42-0. The shot total was the fourth-highest single-match total in school history and Southeastern also attempted 15 corner kicks - the fourth-most in school history.
The back line of junior Kyle MacIntosh, senior Brittany Prieto, senior Nicole Brannigan and freshman Shanyce Shaw helped the Lady Lions to their school-record fourth straight shutout to open the season by holding Southern without a shot.
Bockhaus has been in goal for every minute of the previous four shutouts and broke a tie for the school career record with former Lady Lion Nicole Helmig by recording her 25th career shutout. The San Leandro, Calif. native needs one more shutout to surpass the Southland Conference career record of 25.5 shutouts held by former Stephen F. Austin goalie Natascia Michalezki.
Cooper, the Lady Lions' leading scorer as a freshman in 2009 with 14 goals, led the Southeastern offensive attack after being held scoreless in the first three matches of 2010. MacIntosh and senior Natalie Santana also found the net for Southeastern. Brannigan, Prieto, sophomore Kerry McWhirter and sophomore Karly Dagys were all credited with assists.
"We had a very solid team performance today that we were very pleased with," Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle commented. "Individually, Natalie and Lauren Stillians were fantastic in the central midfield and controlled the flow of the game.
"We were also pleased with the work and effort of Maiya up top," Hornbuckle added. "We're very pleased at Lacey become the sole school shutout record holder. She's been tremendous in goal all season."
Southeastern jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. MacIntosh slid in behind the Southern defense and knocked in a perfectly placed corner kick from McWhirter for her first goal of the season. The assist was the team-high fourth for McWhirter.
The score would remain the same heading into halftime, despite the Lady Lions attempting 23 first-half shots. Southern goalkeeper D'nae Capron, who finished the match with 14 saves, made several good stops, while the Lady Lions also had numerous tries sail just off frame.
Southeastern doubled their lead early in the second half. Brannigan penetrated hard down the right flank and sent a cross towards the Southern goal. Cooper was right there to head it in and put the Lady Lions up, 2-0 in the 48th minute.
Cooper struck again in the 66th minute, taking a pass from Prieto deep in the box and sending it past Capron for a three-goal Lady Lion advantage. The goal was the 16th of Cooper's career, moving her into a tie for 10th place in school history with former Lady Lion Kristin McDonald.
Santana closed out the scoring in the 70th minute, finishing a Dagys corner kick. With the score, Santana became the seventh player in school history to reach 20 career goals and moved past former Lady Lion Ashley Strine into sixth place on the Southeastern career list with 62 points.
Southeastern will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting Southern Miss at 4:30 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
UTSA 6, Grambling 0
SAN ANTONIO- A balanced offensive attack that saw six different players score and eight different players record an assist helped the UTSA women's soccer team to its best start in program history with a 6-0 win over Grambling State on Sunday at the UTSA Recreational Sports Complex.
The Roadrunners (4-2) got on the board in the 23rd minute when freshman Laylla de Cruz knocked in a header off of a feed from fellow freshman Anka Grotle and junior Katie Dugan for her third goal of the season. It didn't take long for Grotle to give UTSA a 2-0 cushion in the 28th minute on a penalty kick.
UTSA took a 3-0 advantage into halftime thanks to junior Taylor Padia's third goal of the season off of a cross from sophomore Lindsay South and junior Brittany Wilson.
The Roadrunner defense kept the Lady Tigers (0-3) away from goalie Dacia Webb, holding GSU to just five shots and only one shot on goal.
UTSA stayed on a roll offensively to start the second half as junior Allison Dillon's third goal of the season extended the lead to 4-0.
Goals by freshman Maria Jose Rojas and senior Laurel Dierking rounded out the scoring for the Roadrunners, who notched their second shutout of the season. The Lady Tigers managed just eight shots for the game with Ashley Baker's three shots leading the way.
The Roadrunners will hit the road to take on Rice at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 in Houston. UTSA will be looking to extend the best start in program history along with its first win against the Owls.
Sam Houston State 2, Texas Southern 0
Houston - Tricia Mallory scored one goal and assisted on a second to lead Sam Houston to a 2-0 non-conference women's soccer victory over Texas Southern Sunday afternoon at Tiger Field.
The victory is the second in a row for Sam Houston, lifting the Bearkats to a 2-4 mark for the season. The Kats defeated North Texas 1-0 in overtime at Pritchett Field in Huntsville Friday night.
Mallory gave the Bearkats a quick 1-0 lead, scoring 6:27 into the contest.
Sam Houston State peppered the Tiger defense with 22 shots in the match with Texas Southern's goalkeeper making 15 saves.
Amanda Biega punched in Sam Houston State's second goal in the 69th minute on a pass from Mallory.
Jenny Pence picked up her second shutout of the season and 19th of her career, making four saves in goal for the Bearkats. Her career marks of 19 shutouts and 27 goalkeeper victories both are school records.
"We had a lot of scoring opportunities," head coach Tom Brown said. "We're still working on finishing. We need to improve every match to be ready for Southland Conference play."
The Texas Southern match was the fifth road contest for Sam Houston this season. The Bearkats will continue their travels next weekend, participating in the South Alabama Soccer Classic in Mobile, Ala. Sam Houston will play host team South Alabama on Friday and Troy on Sunday.
The Bearkat women's soccer team opens a four-match home stand on Friday Sept. 17 when Sam Houston plays host to Baylor at 7 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin scored two penalty kick goals and registered a third goal on a corner kick Sunday afternoon to take a 3-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette at the Stephen F. Austin Soccer Complex. The three goals scored are a season-high for Stephen F. Austin.
Jordan King set a new school record by connecting on two penalty kicks in the first half to get the Ladyjacks out to a commanding lead. Then, in the second period, Becky Johnson answered a Ragin' Cajuns goal by bending a corner kick in unassisted from the right side.
"We were happy with the combination play that set up the penalties, and then to have Jordan step up on both of them and score them was a perfect situation for us," Stephen F. Austin head coach Tony Amato said.
The victory moved Stephen F. Austin back to .500 on the year with a 3-3-0 record. Louisiana-Lafayette left Nacogdoches with an identical 3-3-0 mark.
King's first PK attempt came in the 21st minute after Kim Kimmel was taken down in the box on a clear run toward the net. King lifted the attempt over UL goalkeeper Amanda Moorefield, who dove to her right in an effort to make the stop.
Twenty minutes later, King was called on again, when Jess Brown was fouled on an attack. This time, she went low and to the right, again beating Moorefield to give Stephen F. Austin a 2-0 advantage. The goals are the first of King's career, and she becomes the first Ladyjack in program history to record two PK goals in a single game, let alone a single half.
"It's always difficult to have two in one game," Amato said, "and when the same player takes them, sometimes funny things can happen. So, fair play to Jordan to want to take the penalties both times, have the courage to do it, then tuck them both away for us. That really changed the game."
Stephen F. Austin carried the 2-0 edge to intermission, holding the Cajuns to just three shots through the end of the first half.
But Louisiana-Lafayette broke through in the 48th minute to make it a one-score game. Courtney Hofland played a through ball to Cayla Chatman on the right wing. She went for the far post past Stephen F. Austin freshman Lacey Lee, who replaced starter Courtney Bauder in net for the start of the second half.
Seven minute later, though, the Ladyjacks found the net on a set play when Johnson curled her corner kick attempt just inside the far post for the first goal of her career. She came from behind the end line in the right corner and struck the ball left-footed, bending it high over the traffic in the box to find the back corner.
"We had asked Becky to whip some [corner kicks] in there and get them in the mix," Amato said. "Fortunately for us, she served it in there and it found the far corner. We've talked about 'Hey, we need to score on set pieces,' and today we were able to do that."
With Lee making just her second appearance in net this season and true freshmen Kelsey Allen and Brenda Salazar making their first starts of the year, Amato had several young players logging key minutes for him on Sunday. They played with confidence Sunday, though, and Stephen F. Austin kept the pressure on after the third goal, finishing the game with a 19-8 advantage in shots.
"I thought today was a total team victory," Amato said. "It's been a hard four games in a row for us, and we needed the squad to step up today. We had some people out there who showed us that they wanted to make things happen for this team, and it's always great when you get that response from them."
Bauder recorded two saves and picked up the win to move to 3-3-0 on the year.
Stephen F. Austin will return to action next weekend with a pair of games in Houston. The Ladyjacks will take on the University of Houston Friday in a 5 p.m. match-up, before playing at Houston Baptist on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Lamar 2, Prairie View A&M 1
BEAUMONT, Texas -- Lisa Hance's third goal in two games proved to be the game-winner as the Lamar University women's soccer team edged Prairie View A&M 2-1 in a non-conference game Sunday afternoon.
Hance, who had two goals in Friday's 5-2 win over UT Brownsville headed a shot over Prairie View goalkeeper Melissa Aguayo with 12:43 left in the first half to snap a 1-1 tie. Hance's goal came less than two minutes after Marrisa Woods had scored for the Lady Panthers.
Lamar (2-2-0) opened the scoring just 7:33 into the game. It was Topping's second goal of the season. Jennifer Gibbs made four saves to get the win for Lamar.
"It was a good weekend for us," Lamar coach Dewi Hardman said. "There are still some things we have to work on, but coming away with two wins is nice."
Aguayo made 12 saves for Prairie View A&M (1-4-1).
Lamar will meet Oral Roberts at 5 p.m. Friday at the Texas Tech Red Raider Shootout in Lubbock, Texas, to open a four-game road swing. The Lady Cardinals' next home game is 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 vs. Houston Baptist.
TCU 4, Northwestern State 3
NATCHITOCHES, La. - For a half, the Northwestern State Lady Demon soccer team put a shock into the TCU Horned Frogs by taking a 3-2 lead into the break.
But the speed and talent of the Mountain West Conference team regrouped during the break and came out with a mission in the second half that led to a 4-3 win over Northwestern State Sunday afternoon.
The loss dropped the Lady Demons to 2-4 on the season while TCU, whose only losses of the year were by a 1-0 loss to powerful USC and 3-0 to Texas Tech, improves to 3-2-1.
But the end result does not take away from the improvements this young Lady Demon team has made over the past few weeks.
"I thought we did a really good job in the first half and really was on the aggressive end of play," said head coach Jimmy Mitchell. "It's a far cry from where we were three weeks ago when we started the season."
Northwestern State got on the scoreboard first when Kali Hellinghausen scored off of a blocked pass from 30 yards out in the 16th minute to give the Lady Demons a 1-0 lead.
TCU came right back just two-and-a-half minutes later to tie the game when Nikki Wilbur scored from five feet out off of a corner kick by Kaitlin Hellmann.
In the 26th minute, Northwestern's Rachel O'Steen took a pass and dribbled it into the TCU box on a breakaway goal attempt, but Horned Frog goalkeeper Kelsey Walters made contact with O'Steen and was disqualified from the game after receiving a red card.
That set O'Steen up for a penalty kick that was saved by TCU backup Kira Michelson-Bartlett. But O'Steen corralled the rebound and punched it in to give Northwestern State a 2-1 lead in the 26th minute.
The lead increased to 3-1 three minutes later when Kayla King scored on a breakaway off a goal kick from Northwestern goalkeeper Jessica Danku, who was credited with an assist. Danku scored three points for NSU over a weekend that was highlighted by her 45-yard goal to beat Louisiana-Lafayette in overtime on Friday.
TCU's Kristen Halverson cut the lead to 3-2 with just 36 seconds remaining in the half when she scored from 15 feet out off a cross pass from Jordan Calhoun.
The second half was all TCU as the Horned Frogs tied the game two minutes into the second frame when Calhoun knocked one in on a pass from Chelsea Cody. Cody got her second assist of the day when she fed Kaylie Garcia for a 5-footer to give the Horned Frogs a 4-3 lead in the 79th minute.
Northwestern will be back in action on Friday when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. at the Demon Soccer Complex.
Louisiana Tech 4, McNeese State 0
RUSTON, La. -- McNeese State's soccer team fell 4-0 here Sunday against Louisiana Tech in the second game of the weekend for the Cowgirls. McNeese (1-5) was led in shots by Alana Clark. Clark attempted two shots and Johnna Germany, Jordan Picou and Macie Jones attempted one apiece.
Louisiana Tech held a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Kiva Greham in the 20th minute from about five yards out from the left side.
Louisiana Tech added three more goals in the second half with goals coming in the 51st, 55th and 87th minute to take the victory.
McNeese State returns to action this Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Ole Miss then will return home Sunday for a 1 p.m. game against UL-Monroe.
Lipscomb 1, Central Arkansas 0
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas surrendered a single goal but was unable to come up with an answer and suffered a 1-0 defeat to Lipscomb University on Sunday at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex.
Lipscomb (3-3) got the game's only score when Andie Thornton put the ball into an empty net from about 10 feet out in the middle of the field after UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gochnauer had been drawn out of the goal.
The Bears (1-3-1) missed the mark on all their scoring opportunities, the last coming in the final minute when junior Julie Foerster's free kick sailed just high of the goal.
UCA played the majority of the match without senior forward Brittney Warren, who went down with an injury in the first half.
The Bears will host Prairie View A&M Friday at 2 as the first part of a doubleheader with the UCA men taking on IUPUI afterward.