Friday, October 9
Late Goal Lifts Cajuns Past Red Wolves, 1-0
JONESBORO, Ark. – Scoreless through 87 ½ minutes, Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns junior midfielder Kimberly Grasso deposited her second match-winning goal of the 2015 season via free kick, snapping Louisiana's three-match skid Friday at Arkansas State.
The victory improved the Cajuns' record to 8-6-1 and 2-3 in Sun Belt Conference play, and was the fourth road victory of the season (most since the 2012 season – 3). The Cajuns' record stands at 4-2 all-time against the Red Wolves in Jonesboro.
Louisiana dominated the match offensively, outshooting Arkansas State, 24-8, including 14-5 in the first half. The Cajuns wasted little time looking to create offensive opportunities, firing six shot attempts (two on goal) in less than nine minutes to start the match. Eight of Louisiana's 14 first half shots were on goal.
At the 51-minute mark, Grasso looked to give the Cajuns the lead but her header sailed wide of the Arkansas State net. Grasso's fifth shot attempt of the afternoon came off a free kick, finding its way through the Arkansas State defense, and skipping through Red Wolves goalkeeper Amanda Lee's hands in the 88th minute.
The match-winning goal was the third of Grasso's career (Nichols State on Aug. 21) and the fourth score overall for the Houma, La. native this season.
Cajuns freshman goalkeeper Cosette Morche improved her record to 6-5 and registered her fourth shutout. The four shutouts for Morche moved her into a tie with Leslie Beckman for third place on the Cajuns' all-time list.
"It was a very good road win," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Scot Wieland said. "We played well and created a lot of opportunities [to score].
"I give a lot of credit to Arkansas State, their goalkeeper [Amanda Lee] was phenomenal. Conference wins and road wins are awesome - I was happy our team got a reward for all the scoring opportunities they created today."
The Cajuns will end the weekend with a road match at Little Rock on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. Louisiana has won the past three meetings overall with the Trojans and is 5-3 all-time in Little Rock, Ark.
"I hope that every game is a learning experience going forward," Wieland said. "Our team played hard all game and that's what it takes. If we continue to play 90 minutes in conference matches, I like our chances. Every game is an opportunity to improve."
Jaguars Blank Mountaineers, 3-0
Story to Follow
Troy Defeats Texas State, 4-1
TROY, Alabama – The Troy soccer team defeated Texas State, 4-1, on Friday night at Troy Soccer Complex, in large part to Robyn-Anne Whittaker’s two-goal performance.
Troy (10-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) fired 15 shots as six landed on goal, four found the back of the net and the Trojans averaged a .267 shot percentage for the game, the highest this season.
“When it’s a game that in you’re in control of like that, it’s great to play all 22 players that you can play,” Jason Hamilton said. “We only had two players that played over 60 minutes, which is great for us. We were able to get some players off the bench some experience and I thought those players did a great job too.”
The Trojans scored first and early when a cross from Whittaker from the left side found Chelsey Williams for the first goal of the game in the 16th minute.
Whittaker scored two goals within five minutes, when the first goal was generated as Payton Donley found Brittany Yoder on a long ball. Yoder crossed the ball into the box when she found Whittaker, who split the defense and scored in the 31st minute. Whittaker’s second goal came in the 35th minute when Abby Reynolds headed the ball to Whittaker, who put the Trojans ahead by three.
Brooke McKee gave Troy a 4-0 advantage in the 55th minute when she scored from the top left side of the box off an Alissa Jones corner kick. Jones’ assist was the 15th of her career, which now ranks first in school history.
Texas State (8-4, 2-2 Sun Belt) fired 11 shots in the game, but the eighth one found the back of the net for the Bobcats in the 81st minute to make the game 4-1. Kassi Hormuth took advantage of a misplay from a Troy defender inside the box for her third goal of the season.
Mikki Lewis (8-3) earned her eighth victory of the season as she only played a half and picked up two saves.
Whittaker highlighted the evening with two goals and one assist. Williams and McKee each scored a goal for the Trojans and Jones, Donley, Yoder and Reynolds also picked up an assist on the night.
The Trojans return to Troy Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to take on Appalachian State.
Little Rock Blanks UL Monroe, 1-0
LITTLE ROCK – It took 23 tries, but the Little Rock soccer team eventually found a way to beat Brooke-Lynn Scroggins.
Shannon Shields scored a goal off a rebound from a shot by Quin Wilkes on the Trojans' 23rd shot of the night, leading to a 1-0 victory over visiting ULM at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex on Friday night.
Little Rock (7-5-3, 2-1-2 Sun Belt Conference) fired shot after shot at Scroggins throughout the contest, and the keeper for ULM (6-9-1, 0-5-0) made 10 total saves to keep the game scoreless. But in the 78th minute, the Trojans finally broke through.
Wilkes took a ball from a teammate outside the penalty area and fired toward the left post, but Scroggins knocked the ball out of the air wide. Shields was in the perfect place, though, sliding into the rebound and directing it into the empty net. The goal was Shields' team-leading sixth of the season and capped off a game that Little Rock dominated in the first half.
In the first 45 minutes, the Trojans managed 16 shots total and eight on goal, keeping Scroggins busy early. The Warhawks, meanwhile, did not test Trojan keeper Sara Small until the second half.
Despite all those shots in the first half to go along with three corner kicks, ULM kept the score tied going into the break. And after the second half began, the game was much more even and open.
The Warhawks nearly scored first in the 67th minute when Karlea Fehr took a shot from the right side that Small parried away from the net. But Mariah Mitchell found the rebound at her feet and had a wide open net to shoot at. Instead of burying the ball for a 1-0 lead, Mitchell shot it off the right post, preserving the scoreless tie.
Eleven minutes later, the Trojans had their game-winner.
Small came up large in the second half, saving six Warhawks shots. Amanda Borstelmann nearly scored on a head from a corner kick early in the period, but Small dove to her right and hit the ball away while slamming into the post with her body. Small also earned two saves in 35 seconds against Fehr and Jenna Pillon in the 60th minute.
The shutout was the third in a row for Small, and she now has an active shutout streak of 315 minutes.
Little Rock has now won three consecutive contests against ULM, and Friday was the team's first win at home against ULM since 2011.
The Trojans took just three shots on goal in the second half but had eight shots total to the Warhawks' 11.
The Trojans are right back in action on Sunday, playing host to Louisiana at 1 p.m. at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex.