Ladyjacks Head To Huntsville
10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 9, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
This week's game:
SFA at Sam Houston State • Friday, Oct. 10 • 7 p.m. • Huntsville, Texas
Game Information:
This Week: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will continue its Southland Conference-opening road trip Friday when the Ladyjacks take on Sam Houston State. The contest features what are currently the top two teams in the league, as both enter the game with a 2-0-0 record in SLC play. SFA brings a 5-5-0 overall record to the showdown, while the Bearkats come in with a 7-2-0 record. Sam Houston is the hottest team in the Southland. The Bearkats have won seven straight games with all seven victories having been shutouts. Sam Houston has outscored its opponents, 18-0, during that streak.
Last Week: SFA got out to a solid start in Southland Conference play by going on the road to knock off Southeastern Louisiana, 1-0, Friday, then notching a 6-1 win at Nicholls on Sunday. The road victories were the first two wins away from home for SFA this season and marked the first time in program history for a Ladyjack team to open SLC play with consecutive road wins. Senior Amanda Lackey scored the game-winner at Southestern, and five different Ladyjacks posted goals in the win over Nicholls, with Kesia Broome scoring twice.
SFA vs. the Bearkats: SFA holds a 6-1-0 all-time record against the young Sam Houston State soccer program. The Ladyjacks won four straight to open the series, starting with a 5-0 win in 2003, but the Bearkats notched a 3-1 verdict when the teams met in the 2005 Southland Conference Tournament. SFA is 3-0-0 with three shutout wins in road games. The Ladyjacks won last year's meeting in Nacogdoches, 2-1.
The Coaches: SFA is coached by George Van Linder. In his first year at SFA, Van Linder has compiled a 5-5-0 record. He is 129-104-20 in 12 years as a collegiate head coach. Tom Brown is in his first season as Sam Houston's head coach.
Next Week: SFA will open the home portion of its Southland Conference schedule with two games against Central Texas opponents. The Ladyjacks will take on UTSA Friday in a 7 p.m. contest, then meet Texas State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
News and Notes
• 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.
• ROAD NO LONGER TRIPPIN': 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 went on to defeat Nicholls, 6-1, Sunday, moving them to 2-5-0 in road games this season.
• 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.
• 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: Eighteen of SFA's 21 goals in 2008 (the 22nd 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 119-111-23 (.516). However, the Ladyjacks have really turned the corner in the last six years. Since the 2002 season, SFA is 74-40-12 (.635) overall. In that same stretch, the Ladyjacks have gone 43-10-9 (.766) 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 --
