Ladyjacks Head to SLC Championships
11/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2004
NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team travels to Hammond, La., this week for the Southland Conference Championships. The Ladyjacks enter the SLC tournament as the No.-1 seed after winning the SLC regular-season title and will receive a first-round bye. The Ladyjacks will play the winner of the No. 4 Louisiana-Monroe/No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana game, which will be played Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Ladyjacks enter the SLC Championships with an 11-4-3 (.694) overall mark and won the conference regular season with a 9-1-2 (.833) record. The tournament will be hosted by Southeastern Louisiana.
The Bracket: The Ladyjacks and second-seed Texas State will receive automatic first-round byes in the tournament. The Ladyjacks will await the winner of the No. 4 Louisiana-Monroe/No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana game and play Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. Texas State will play the winner of the No. 3 Northwestern State/No. 6 Nicholls State game. The Bobcats' semifinal game is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. The SLC Championship game is slated to begin Sunday at 1 p.m.
A Look Back ... The 2003 version of the Ladyjacks entered the SLC tournament as the No.-2 seed and advanced to the championship game where they face regular-season champion Southeastern Louisiana. The Ladyjacks held on for a 1-0 victory over the Lady Lions to receive the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Championships. It was the program's first trip to the field of 64. The shutout victory over Southeastern Louisiana also marked the fourth consecutive shutout win for the Ladyjacks and their seventh in the last nine games.
All-Southland Conference: Nine Ladyjacks were named to the 2004 All-Southland Conference teams, highlighted by four first-team selections. The Ladyjacks four first-team members are senior Christie Mestayer, juniors Kim Gray and Natascia Michalezki and sophomore Shahin Pabani. Senior Sophia Pantazis and sophomore Andrea Ramirez earned second-team honors while senior Lauren Matkin, junior Jaime Ronca and freshman Caitlin O'Brien received honorable mention honors. SFA head coach Nicole Nelson was also named conference coach of the year for a second consecutive season.
Pabani's Points: Sophomore Shahin Pabani has not only had one of the best seasons of her career but one of the best in school history. Pabani has scored 34 points (14 goals and 6 assists) this season, which ties current Ladyjack Kendra Cannon as the best single-season mark in school history. Pabani needs only one more goal to tie Cannon's SFA single-season record of 15 goals, which was set last season.
Players of the Week: SFA has had six conference player of the week awards this season. Seniors Sophia Pantazis and Christie Mestayer and sophomore Shahin Pabani earned SLC Offensive Player of the Week awards while goalkeeper Natascia Michalezki was twice named conference goalkeeper of the week. Junior Kim Gray was the Ladyjacks other award winner, being named defensive player of the week on Sept. 28.
The Great Wall of Nacogdoches: Junior goalkeeper Natascia Michalezki has recorded another solid season for the Ladyjacks. She has recorded 114 saves this season and is the only Ladyjack to record 400 career saves. Michalezki also owns the SFA single-game (24) and season (154) save records. She needs only one more save this season own the top three save marks in school history.
Up Next ... If the Ladyjacks can repeat their fortunes of a year ago and win the Southland Conference Tournament, SFA will be headed back to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Soccer Championship selection show will be Monday Nov. 8, at approximately 4:30 (EST) p.m. Last season the Ladyjacks faced 12th-seeded Duke in the NCAA Championships but lost, 3-0.
