SFA To Host Rice In Home Opener
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks
vs. Rice Owls
Friday, Sept. 4 • 7 p.m.
Nacogdoches, Texas
GAME INFORMATION
This Week: The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team will open its home slate Friday with a game against Rice. The contest is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. from the SFA Soccer Complex. The Ladyjacks bring a 1-2-0 record to the contest after suffering two losses in last weekend's UTEP Miner Classic. Rice is 0-2-1 on the year and coming off consecutive road losses last weekend.
Last Week: The Ladyjacks suffered a 4-1 defeat at UTEP in the first game of the Miner Classic last Friday. Two days later, SFA dropped a 3-2 decision to Utah State. The Ladyjacks found themselves playing from behind early in each defeat. The Miners put two goals in before SFA recorded a single shot, then added to second-half scores to negate Megan Cash's goal in the 59th minute. For the game, UTEP out-shot SFA, 16-11, the only time this season an opponent has recorded more shots than the Ladyjacks. Against Utah State, the Ladyjacks gave up a goal just 56 seconds into the contest and spent the remaining 89 minutes trying to chase down that score. Cash tied the score with her second goal of the season early in the second half, and Kim Kimmel added a goal in the 86th minute. But the Aggies squeezed in two more scoring strikes between those goals to take home the win despite an 18-11 edge in shot attempts for SFA.
The Owls: Rice returned nine starters and 17 letterwinners from last year's 10-9-0 squad. Though their 0-2-1 record might now show it, the Owls have played well against some fairly stiff competition early on. They opened the season with a 1-1 tie against Baylor -- the third straight game in that series to go to overtime -- then dropped a pair of one-goal defeats on the road against Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Both goals were scored in the second period, following scoreless first halves. Both Marquette and UW-Milwaukee knocked off Michigan last weekend, in addition to their wins against Rice.
Coverage: SFA's game against Rice will be available online via both Gametracker and SFA All-Access. SFA All-Access is the portal for live streaming video from Lumberjack and Ladyjack home events. This season marks the first campaign during which home soccer games will be streamed live on sfajacks.com.
Gametracker Link
Live Video Feed Registration
Next Week: SFA will return to the road for a two-game swing against Missouri State and Arkansas. The Ladyjacks will meet Missouri State on Friday, Sept. 11, in a 6 p.m. contest. SFA's game at Arkansas is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
NEWS AND NOTES
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.
GRANDE 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 123-127-25 (.493). However, the Ladyjacks have really turned the corner in the last seven years. Since the 2002 season, SFA is 78-45-14 (.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.
NOTE: For the complete release in .pdf format, click here.
-- SFA --
