SFA Hits The Road For Two Games
9/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 10, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
SFA at Missouri State
Friday, Sept. 11 • 5:30 p.m.
Springfield, Mo.
SFA at Arkansas
Sunday, Sept. 13 • 1 p.m.
Fayetteville, Ark.
GAME INFORMATION
This Week: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will take to the road for a pair of games this weekend. SFA opens the action Friday night at Missouri State, then travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks. SFA enters the weekend with a 1-3-0 record, having dropped three straight contests. The Bears bring a 2-2-1 mark to Friday's contest, while Arkansas enters the week on a five-game unbeaten streak at 4-0-1.
Last Week: The Ladyjacks blazed out to a 2-0 first-half lead against Rice Friday night behind goals by freshmen Laura Sadler and Kylie Louw. But the Owls tied the count to send the game to overtime, then got a goal midway through the first overtime period to complete the comeback. For the game, SFA out-shot the Owls, 21-8, with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal. Sadler's scoring strike came just 47 seconds into the contest, putting it among the fastest goals in program history. Louw picked up her team-leading third assist on the play, then knocked home her first career goal in the 31st minute.
The Bears: Missouri State has gotten out to a strong start. The Bears' only losses are road defeats at Oklahoma and Arkansas, while they have taken a neutral-site 2-0 win over Austin Peay and a 3-1 verdict at Arkansas-Little Rock. Missouri State opened its home schedule Tuesday night by playing Saint Louis to a scoreless tie. Friday's meeting with SFA will mark the first clash between the two teams.
The Razorbacks: The only blemish on Arkansas' schedule this season is a 1-0 exhibition defeat at Oklahoma. Since then, the Razorbacks have outscored the opposition, 11-2, with four shutouts. Arkansas opened with a 2-0 win at Michigan and is coming off a scoreless tie at Tulsa, followed by a 3-0 road win over Oral Roberts. The Razorbacks are 2-0-0 at home. Arkansas took a 9-0 win in the only prior meeting with SFA. That contest came in 1996, the Ladyjack soccer team's second season of existence.
Coverage: Ladyjack fans can follow the action for both of this weekend's games via LiveStats provided by the home teams. Links will be available on both teams' schedule page just prior to game-time. In addition, Arkansas will provide live, streaming video of Sunday's game.
Missouri State Schedule Page
Arkansas Schedule Page
Next Week: SFA will be back in Nacogdoches to host a pair of contests. SFA entertains Houston on Friday, Sept. 18. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Two days later, the Ladyjacks will take on Washington State in an 11:30 a.m. contest.
NEWS AND NOTES
QUICK STRIKE: When freshman Laura Sadler scored her first career goal 47 seconds into SFA's game against Rice, it marked the fastest goal to start a game in George Van Linder's tenure. The goal is the third-fastest in program history, according to available single-game records, which date to the 2000 season. The Ladyjacks have scored inside of a minute just three times in that span and have scored in fewer than two minutes eight times. Sadler's goal is the quickest since Lauren Fricks put one in the net 38 seconds into SFA's 6-2 win over Nicholls in the 2006 season.
NOT IN THE ZONE: SFA went 0-2-0 at the UTEP Miner Classic in El Paso, Texas, continuing a quirky trend for the Ladyjacks. The city of El Paso sits just inside the Mountain time zone. SFA is 0-8-0 when playing at sites to the west of the Central time zone. Six of those defeats have come in tournaments at UTEP, while the other two were recorded against Colorado College and the Air Force Academy during the 2006 season.
CASHING IN: Megan Cash scored a goal in each of SFA's losses at the UTEP Miner Classic. Five of her six attempted shots over the weekend were on goal. She led the team in shots on goal percentage at .833 on the weekend and is also the season's overall leader, having put 90 percent of her shots on goal.
STREAK-STOPPER: Junior goalkeeper Courtney Bauder surrendered a game-tying goal to Louisiana-Lafayette in the 38th minute. That marked the first time in more than five games for Bauder to give up a goal. Her shutout streak covered five complete games and lasted a total of 561 minutes and 36 seconds, dating to a game against Texas State last season.
WAITING HER TURN: After sitting out the 2007 and 2008 seasons recovering from a knee injury, redshirt freshman Breanne Vernon made an impact in her first game as a Ladyjack. The Calgary native scored two second-half goals in SFA's 3-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. She is the first freshman to score a goal in a season-opener since Kelli Wilson scored as a true freshman in the 2006 debut, a 4-1 home win against Grambling.
GRAND OPENING: With its 3-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette, SFA moves to 7-7-1 all-time in season openers. The Ladyjacks are now 3-5-0 all-time when opening the season on the road. Sunday's victory is the team's first season-opening road win since defeating Arkansas State, 1-0, in the 2001 opener.
ROAD-TESTED: SFA opened the 2009 season with a 3-1 victory at Louisiana-Lafayette. That win moved the Ladyjacks' road unbeaten streak to six straight games, dating to a 1-0 verdict against Southeastern Louisiana in last season's SLC opener. SFA went undefeated in SLC road games last year (4-0-1), marking the third time in program history that's happened. The team's road unbeaten streak came to an end with SFA's loss at UTEP on Aug. 28.
FRESH LEGS: With 13 true freshmen, one redshirt rookie and four transfers on the 2009 roster, the Ladyjacks have more first-year players (18) than any other team in the Southland Conference. The next-closest rookie total is 15, shared by UTSA and Lamar.
NEW FACES, NEW PLACES: To go along with the 18 first-year players on the Ladyjack roster for the 2009 season, the team will play a total of four first-time opponents in nine non-conference games. So far, SFA is 1-1-0 against the fresh competition.
NINE WINS: SFA finished the 2008 season with a 9-7-2 overall record. This marks the sixth consecutive season for the Ladyjacks to pick up at least nine victories and is the program's sixth straight winning season. The last time an SFA squad failed to reach the nine-win plateau was 2002, also the last time the Ladyjacks posted a losing season (7-9-4).
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 12 possible regular-season titles in SLC Soccer history.
BUILDING MOMENTUM: Since its beginnings in 1995, the Ladyjack soccer program has compiled an overall record of 123-128-25. However, the Ladyjacks have really turned the corner in the last seven years. Since the 2002 season, SFA is 78-46-14 overall. In that same stretch, the Ladyjacks have gone 47-12-10 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 71-34-12 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 40-7-5 in home contests. Against Southland Conference foes, SFA is a very tough 23-3-3 at the Soccer Complex.
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