SFA Set For Two Home Games
9/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 17, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Houston at SFA
Friday, Sept. 18 • 7 p.m.
Nacogdoches, Texas
Washington State at SFA
Sunday, Sept. 20 • 11 a.m.
Nacogdoches, Texas
GAME INFORMATION
This Week: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will wrap up its home non-conference schedule this weekend with games against Houston and Washington State. The Ladyjacks bring a 2-4-0 record to Friday night's game against Houston after splitting their two road games over the weekend. Houston shares SFA's 2-4-0 mark, and Washington State enters the week with a 4-2-0 record.
Last Week: For the second straight game, SFA got out to a two-goal lead, only this time, the Ladyjacks held on to take a 2-0 victory at Missouri State on Friday. Junior Kim Kimmel got SFA on the board in the 30th minute with her team-leading third goal of the game. Freshman Kylie Louw recorded her team-high fourth assist on the play. Freshman Chelsea Smith added the insurance score seven minutes later for her first career goal. The Bears out-shot SFA, 10-9, for the game but registered just two shots on goal with junior Courtney Bauder stopping both. Arkansas scored three goals in the first seven minutes of Sunday's game and went on to take a 3-0 verdict. The Razorbacks put up 14 shots to SFA's nine and held the Ladyjacks to two shots on goal.
Houston: The Cougars opened the season on a four-game losing streak before righting the ship with consecutive home victories against Texas State and McNeese State. Houston took a 2-1 overtime win over Texas State and defeated the Cowgirls by the same margin in regulation. Two of the Cougars' four early losses came against Texas and against a Pepperdine team that is receiving votes in the NSCAA Top 25 poll. Houston holds a 4-1-0 all-time advantage against SFA. The lone Ladyjack win in the series was a 4-1 home verdict in 2006. Friday's game will be the third meeting in Nacogdoches.
Washington State: The Cougars began their campaign with back-to-back shutouts against Idaho and Syracuse before a 2-1 defeat at Colorado College. Washington State rebounded with a 3-0 verdict at Gonzaga, then dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 5 Florida State. The Cougars are coming off a 2-1 home win over No. 18 BYU on Sept. 10 and are scheduled to take on Texas in Austin on Friday. Sunday will mark the first meeting between SFA and Washington State, which is ranked No. 5 in the Pacific Region, according to NSCAA polls.
Coverage: Ladyjack fans can follow the action for both of this weekend's games online via GameTracker and SFA All-Access at SFAJacks.com.
Houston GameTracker
Houston Live Video
Washington State GameTracker
Washington State Live Video
Next Week: SFA will play its final non-conference game of the season when the Ladyjacks meet TCU on the road on Friday, Sept. 25.
NEWS AND NOTES
STOPPING THE SLIDE: SFA's 2-0 win at Missouri State halted a three-game losing streak, the Ladyjacks' first such skid since losing three straight during the 2006 season. In the last eight campaigns, the SFA program has posted just three three-game losing streaks and has not dropped more than three straight contests since a four-game slide in 2000.
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 124-128-25. However, the Ladyjacks have really turned the corner in the last seven years. Since the 2002 season, SFA is 79-46-14 (.620) overall. In that same stretch, the Ladyjacks have gone 47-12-10 (.746) 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 71-33-12 (.658) 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 40-6-5 (.827) in home contests. Against Southland Conference foes, SFA is a very tough 23-3-3 (.833) at the Soccer Complex.
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