Friday, September 23
Ragin' Cajuns Defeat Georgia Southern, 2-0
Statesboro, Ga. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns soccer team defeated Georgia Southern, 2-0, for it's first Sun Belt Conference win of the season on Friday evening at Eagle Field.
Louisiana (5-5-1, 1-1-1, SBC) scored in the 42nd minute on a goal from 12 yards out by junior Whitney Taggert, her third of the season. Freshman Melanie Groves was credited with the assist.
The Ragin' Cajuns added onto their lead in the 66th minute on a goal by senior Yazmin Montoya, her third of the season, from 30 yards out into the top right corner of the goal.
"I'm very proud of the effort the girls gave tonight on the road," head coach Scot Wieland said. "They stayed disciplined to our game plan and earned a hard fought conference road win."
Georgia Southern (3-6-1, 0-3 SBC) is still searching for its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season.
Louisiana goalkeeper sophomore Cosette Morche had six saves on the night while Georgia Southern goalie Lauren Karinshalk had six saves for the Eagles.
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to play Troy (5-4-2, 1-0-1 SBC) on Sunday in a 1 p.m. match at the Jesse H. Colley Track/Soccer Complex.
Portillo-Segovia Buries The GWG To Open SBC Play With 2-1 Win
Monroe, La. – ULM Soccer kicked off Sun Belt Conference Play in dramatic fashion with Emely Portillo-Segovia scoring not one but two second half goals including a goal with 38 seconds to go to give ULM the 2-1 victory on Friday afternoon.
THE TURNING POINT
In the 90th minute, Emely Portillo-Segovia got behind the keeper and buried her second goal of the game to give the Warhawks the dramatic 2-1 win.
NOTABLES
-Senior Emely Portillo-Segovia scored both goals in the contests which were her first two career goals since transferring to ULM before her junior season.
-The win gives the Warhawks their first win in a conference opener since joining the Sun Belt back in 2006.
-Georgia Southern led the corner kick battle 10-9 however ULM had seven of their nine corners in the second half to help propel them to the comeback.
-The match this afternoon was to support Ovarian Cancer and raise awareness for the cause. SBC coach Kat Conner at Texas State has battled thru it over the last year. She is now in remission.
PURFIELD'S FREE KICK GIVES SOCCER NARROW WIN OVER ARKANSAS STATE
JONESBORO, Ark. – The University of South Alabama soccer team recorded its fifth straight shutout and got a late goal from sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) in defeating Arkansas State 1-0 Friday afternoon at A-State Soccer Park.
The Jaguars improve to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Red Wolves drop to 2-4-3 and 0-2-1.
"I first want to congratulate Arkansas State for a very well-organized performance," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "They sat pretty defensively and we found them very difficult to break down on what is a much smaller field than what we're used to playing on. All credit to them, but I thought we controlled the game, and in the second half, it was just a matter of time before we scored. Once we got into the final few minutes, you start to wonder if it's going to be your day or not."
South Alabama's shutout streak is the longest in school history. Four of the five victories have been by a 1-0 score.
"The defense was solid again," Winkworth noted. "We've got a great group back there and they are well organized. They communicate and haven't been putting a foot wrong. It's not like that run has come against some poor opponents; we've played the best team in the country and a team from the SEC. All credit to the girls.
"But it's not just the back four and the goalkeeper. The whole team works hard defensively and we pride ourselves on that because we feel like if we don't concede any goals, then we won't lose games and that's proven to be the case this season."
Purfield's strike came at the 87:18 mark. After junior Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) was taken down just outside the ASU penalty area, resulting in a yellow card, Purfield stepped up and hit a laser into the back of the net.
"It was a screamer," Winkworth said. "I get frustrated sometimes because we'll get free kicks on the edge of the area but we often kick the ball into the goalkeeper's hands. She had one earlier in the game and hit the wall. I guess she decided she was going to smack that one and it just flew into the net. I think she might have put a hole in the back of the net, she struck it so hard."
The first half resulted in just eight shots total, with the Jags holding a 5-3 advantage, but the second half was all USA. All 10 attempts in the last 45 minutes came from South Alabama, with three of those hitting the target.
"I didn't think we were being threatened too much, but I was disappointed, not just in the first half but in the entire game, how clinical we were in the final third," Winkworth said. "We had enough chances to win and we just weren't hitting the target. If we don't hit the target, we can't score goals. Once we got in the penalty area, we needed a little more composure; we don't need to take the net off.
"Jemma hit the bar with another screamer, and then you have a couple that you miss from a couple yards out and you start to wonder if it's going to be your day and if that goal is going to come. To be honest, we could have played 200 minutes today and I don't know if we would've scored in open play, with the lack of composure we were showing in the penalty area, so I'm not surprised that the game was decided on a set piece.
"However, we do have so much quality going forward, I have no worries, because I know on another day we'll take advantage of those chances. We just had an off day and we'll dust ourselves off a hopefully we can find the net more frequently in future matches."
All five shutouts in the streak have come with freshman Justice Stanford (The Colony, Texas) in net. She was not called upon to make a single save in 90 minutes. Her counterpart, Kelsey Ponder, made three stops.
On Sunday, South Alabama will go to Little Rock for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
THOMAS SCORES TWICE AS PANTHERS DEFEAT COASTAL CAROLINA
ATLANTA- The Georgia State women’s soccer team earned its first conference win Friday night after a 2-0 victory over Coastal Carolina. Senior Alexis Thomas scored both goals for GSU.
The Panthers improved to 4-3-3 on the season (1-1-1 Sun Belt) while the Chanticleers fell to 5-4-1 (2-1-0 Sun Belt).
Both teams opened the match in defensive mode, with just four total shots taken in the first half. Senior Alexis Thomas took both shots for GSU, with both being on target. Thomas scored the lone first half goal off a deflection from junior Rebecca Copeland, putting the Panthers up 1-0 with under a minute to halftime.
The game remained focused on defense coming out of the half, with CCU narrowly outshooting Georgia State 7-6 for the match.
Thomas scored the second goal of the game quickly. The goal came off a deflection from freshman Erin Rhodes in the 62nd minute of play. Thomas now has three goals this season.
“We’re very happy to get our first conference win tonight, especially after being on the road for the past four matches,” head coach Ed Joyce said. “It was great to see Alexis Thomas get two goals. She’s worked really hard this season so it’s nice for it to pay off. Today was a team effort and now we’re looking forward to Appalachian State.”
The team will continue conference play on Sunday in Boone, N.C. when they face Appalachian State at 1 p.m.
Bobcats Play Mountaineers to 1-1 Draw
BOONE, N.C. – In the first Sun Belt Conference road game of the season, the Texas State women's soccer played Appalachian State to a 1-1 draw at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium Friday night. Dating back to last season, the Bobcats are undefeated in their last seven conference matches.
TXST is now 5-4-2 overall on the year and 2-0-1 in the SBC while the Mountaineers are 5-5-1 on the season and 0-2-1 in conference games. The Bobcats currently lead the league with seven points. They also matched the 2013 team for the second best start in program history in Sun Belt Conference play.
ASU's Emily Cowie broke the scoreless tie the in the 400th minute off the foot of Emily Cowie to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead. Kelly Flanders and Erin Settle were credited with an assist on the play.
Kassi Hormuth tied the game 1-1 three minutes into the second half when she beat the keeper during a one on one encounter from six yards out. Prater assisted on the goal as she and Hormuth had an excellent give and go to beat the defensive line. The goal was Hormuth's third of the season that tied Clarissa Leon for the team lead. With the assist, Prater matched former Bobcat Tori Hale (2012-14) for ninth on the program's career points list with 39.
The Mountaineers' Jane Cline had two opportunities to put the game away in the final minute of regulation. She had a point black attempt that Heather Martin got her body in front of and the ball bounced away from danger. With just over 30 seconds remaining, Cline got behind the TXST defensive line for an open shot that she sent high over the bar.
In the first overtime period, the Bobcats came out strong offensively peppering the goal with four shots within the first four minutes. Prater took two attempts and both Maddie Nichols and Kira Zapalac attempted a shot each.
With nine second left in the first extra period, Zapalac ripped a shot from 12 yards out. The ball, however, flew right into the goalkeeper's hands.
ASU was able to take three shots in the final extra period. Two soared over the crossbar and the other was easily corralled by Martin. TXST took two shots with Prater send a long shot that was hardly troubled the keeper and Rachel Grout saw her crack at net get blocked.
Prater and Zapalac both took a team-high four shots. Brooke Ramsey and Grout were the only other Bobcats with multiple shot attempts with two apiece. In goal, Martin matched her career-high of seven saves.
The Mountaineers outshot Texas State 21-15, placing eight shots on goal to four for the Bobcats. Cline took a game-high seven shots but only put two on frame. Sam Steyl made three saves in net.
Next up for Texas State is a 12 p.m. CDT match at Georgia Southern on Sunday.