Ladyjack Soccer Set for Season Opener
8/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2006
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will begin its 2006 season at home Sunday against the Grambling State Lady Tigers. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at the SFA Intramural Complex. The Ladyjacks are in their second year under the direction of head coach Jaime Frias and are coming off a 14-4-0 Southland Conference championship season in 2005.
SFA, sporting a roster dotted with nine newcomers and 16 players who are sophomores or younger, is eager to get some live action under its belt. SFA played a pair of exhibition contests last weekend. The Ladyjacks played in a scrimmage at Southern Methodist on Friday, then took on Texas Christian Saturday night. No stats were kept for the Friday night game. SFA fell, 2-1, against TCU. Sophomore forward Amanda Alders scored SFA's lone goal. Goalkeepers Crystin Pactor (freshman) and Francesca Tierno (sophomore) split time and faced 24 TCU shots, allowing one goal each.
Sunday's opponent, the Lady Tigers, are two years removed from a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship. But Grambling State enters the 2006 season trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2005 campaign. The Lady Tigers posted an 8-11-0 overall record and finished 2-3-0 against SWAC competition. GSU returns a number of players from last season, including top goal scorer Natasha Nzeakor. Nzeakor tallied eight goals and two assists in 2005. SFA is 1-0-0 against Grambling State, the lone meeting between the two teams coming last year, when the Ladyjacks posted a 5-0 victory.
-- SFA --
