SFA Set To Open Home Stand
10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 16, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- -
This week's game:
UTSA at SFA • Friday, Oct. 17 • 7 p.m. • Nacogdoches, Texas
Texas State at SFA • Sunday, Oct. 19 • 1 p.m. • Nacogdoches, Texas
Game Information:
This Week: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will try to continue its hot start to Southland Conference play when SFA hosts UTSA and Texas State in a pair of weekend matches. The Ladyjacks will take their four-game winning streak and 10-match home undefeated run, along with a 6-5-0 season mark and 3-0-0 SLC record into the week's games. UTSA comes into Friday's match with a 5-9-0 overall mark and a 2-2-0 record in SLC play. Texas State is 7-3-3 on the season and 3-0-1 in league play.
Last Week: SFA continued its SLC-opening win streak and ended a pair of Sam Houston streaks with a 2-1 win against the Bearkats on Friday. Sam Houston came into the meeting of the only two unbeatens in the SLC with a seven-game winning streak. That streak also include seven consecutive shutouts and more than 650 minutes without allowing a goal. But Megan Cash scored twice in the first half to erase both streaks and leave the Ladyjacks alone at the top of the conference standings.
SFA vs. the Roadrunners: SFA is 1-1-1 all-time against UTSA. The series began in 2006, the Roadrunners' first season as an SLC member, with a 2-1 loss in Nacogdoches. That defeat stands as the only home loss to a conference opponent in the last five-plus seasons. The teams played to a scoreless tie in the regular-season meeting in 2007, and SFA took a 1-0 win in the rematch at the SLC Tournament.
SFA vs. the Bobcats: The Ladyjacks are 6-8-2 all-time against Texas State, the only Southland Conference foe to hold an edge in its series with SFA. The Ladyjacks have won three straight against the Bobcats and are 4-1-2 at home against Texas State. SFA won last year's meeting in San Marcos, Texas, 2-1, in double-overtime.
The Coaches: SFA is coached by George Van Linder. In his first year at SFA, Van Linder has compiled a 6-5-0 record. He is 130-104-20 in 12 years as a collegiate head coach. Steve Ballard is the head coach of UTSA. Kat Conner is Texas State's head coach.
Next Week: SFA will hit the road for its final trip of the regular season. The Ladyjacks will head to Conway, Ark., to take on Central Arkansas on Friday, then travel to Natchitoches, La., for a Sunday tilt with Northwestern State. The game against the Bears is set for a 4 p.m. start with Sunday's game scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
News and Notes
• NEW FIRST: SFA's 2-1 win at Sam Houston State moved the Ladyjacks into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference. It also put the wraps on a feat never before achieved at SFA. The win gave the Ladyjacks three straight road victories to start the SLC campaign, the first time in program history that's happened.
• STREAK-STOPPERS: When Megan Cash scored in the fifth minute of SFA's win at Sam Houston State, it not only got the Ladyjacks out to a strong start, it also halted one of the most impressive streaks in the Southland Conference this season. Leading into its game with SFA, Sam Houston had recorded seven straight shutout wins and had not allowed a goal in more than 650 minutes of play. Cash's first score stopped the goal drought, then she scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 33rd minute, eventually ending the Bearkats' win streak, as well.
• GOALS GALORE: Megan Cash's two goals at Sam Houston State marked her second multi-goal game in the last four contests. The last time a Ladyjack put two multiple-goal performances together in that short a timespan was 2006, when Lauren Fricks posted a hat trick against Nicholls then scored two goals in the next game, against Texas State.
• ROAD SHOW: SFA's 1-0 win at Southeastern Louisiana marked the team's first road victory since taking a 3-0 win at Lamar last October. Coming into the game against the Lions, SFA was 0-5-0 away from home this season. The Ladyjacks followed with a 6-1 win at Nicholls and a 2-1 victory at Sam Houston State, moving SFA to 3-5-0 this season in road games.
• SLC OPENERS: The win at Southeastern Louisiana also extended the Ladyjacks' streak of consecutive victories in Southland Conference openers. SFA has now won seven straight SLC-opening contests. The Ladyjacks have not dropped a league opener since a 4-3 loss at McNeese State in 2003.
• SNAPPED: In addition to getting out to a 1-0-0 start in Southland Conference play, SFA's 1-0 win at Southeasten Louisiana halted a long-running streak for the Lions. SFA is the first team to win in Hammond, La., since Southern Mississippi took a 2-1 win over Southeastern in September of 2006. The Lions had a 19-game home unbeaten streak coming into their match with SFA.
• NEW RECORD: SFA set a team record for single-game goals in its 10-2 win over Prairie View A&M. The previous best was an eight-goal performance against Nicholls State in 1998. Sunday's win margin also matched that game to tie for the widest margin of victory in program history. Three of the top single-game goal totals in program history have come against Nicholls State.
• HAT'S OFF: Junior Brenna Crockett scored three goals and assisted on a fourth in Sunday's 10-2 win over Prairie View A&M. Classmate Megan Cash scored three consecutive goals in the first period to nearly match Crockett's point total. The hat tricks were just the ninth and 10th in school history but make 2008 the fourth consecutive season for at least one Ladyjack to record the feat. Prior to 2005, when the streak began, the last hat trick by an SFA player was scored in 1996. Crockett and Cash's dual hat tricks marked just the second time in program history for two players to score three or more goals each in the same game. Current Ladyjacks Amanda Alders and Lauren Fricks both recorded hat tricks against Nicholls State in 2006.
• PILING UP POINTS: Junior Brenna Crockett came into SFA's game against Prairie View A&M with two career goals and five total points in two-plus seasons. She then posted three goals and an assist to finish the game with seven total points. That figure fell just one point short of tying the single-game record for an SFA player. Crockett added to her career point total with a goal and an assist in the Ladyjacks' 6-1 win at Nicholls. She is now No. 24 all-time in Ladyjack history with 15 career points
• SHARING THE BALL: Nineteen of SFA's 23 goals in 2008 (the 24th was an own goal scored by Arkansas State) have come with assists. Five different Ladyjacks -- Amanda Alders (4), Brenna Crockett (3), Kim Kimmel (2), Summer Bradfield (2) and Lauren Fricks (2) -- have each recorded multiple assists.
• STREAKING: SFA's double-figure goal-scoring performance against Prairie View A&M also extended an important Ladyjack streak to double digits. SFA's 10-2 win in the game ran its home winning streak to 10 consecutive games, dating to last season. The Ladyjacks are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 home games, going all the way back to an Oct. 1, 2006 defeat against UTSA.
• QUICK COMEBACK: Prairie View A&M scored two goals in the first four minutes to take a 2-0 lead. SFA answered quickly, took the lead by the 15th minute and went on to collect a 10-2 win. This marks the first time this season and the first time since the 2007 season opener against St. Edward's for a Ladyjack team to come from behind for a win. St. Edward's scored in the 11th minute of that game before SFA came back to notch a 2-1 double-overtime win. Between that victory over St. Edward's and Sunday's win over Prairie View, the Ladyjacks had gone a combined 0-8-1 in games in which the opponent scored first.
• START 'EM YOUNG: The Ladyjacks returned a host of experienced players and nine starters for the 2008 season, but the newcomers are getting plenty of action, early on. SFA has already used 22 of the 27 players listed on the 2008 roster. Five different newcomers have earned starting appearances, so far. Last year, the Ladyjacks utilized just 20 players the entire season.
• BUILDING MOMENTUM: Since its beginnings in 1995, the Ladyjack soccer program has compiled an overall record of 120-113-22 (.514). However, the Ladyjacks have really turned the corner in the last six years. Since the 2002 season, SFA is 75-40-12 (.638) overall. In that same stretch, the Ladyjacks have gone 44-10-9 (.770) in Southland Conference play with three regular-season championships and a tournament title to their credit.
• SAFE AT HOME: SFA holds an all-time record of 69-31-12 (.670) in home games, but that mark is even better at the current venue. Since moving from Homer Bryce Stadium to the SFA Soccer Complex for the 2003 season, the Ladyjacks are 38-4-5 (.862) in home contests. Against Southland Conference foes, SFA is a near-invincible 21-1-3 (.900) at the Soccer Complex. The 2006 loss to Texas-San Antonio marked the first home defeat at the hands of an SLC school in more than four years.
• TITLE TOWN: The SFA women's soccer program has brought an unprecedented five Southland Conference regular-season championships back to Nacogdoches. That total is nearly half of the 11 possible SLC regular-season titles in the history of conference soccer.
• TWICE AS NICE: Entering the 2007 season, the Ladyjacks had won the Southland Conference regular-season title a record four times and had won the SLC Tournament championship once. But SFA had never worn both crowns at the same time. That all changed last year, as SFA won a share of the conference championship in the regular season, then took the tournament title with back-to-back shutouts to earn its second berth in the NCAA Championships.
• Click here for complete game notes in .pdf format.
-- SFA --
