SFA Opens SLC Play At Northwestern State
9/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Game 8: Stephen F. Austin (4-2-1) at Northwestern State (3-5)
Sunday, Sept. 21 (1 p.m.) - Lady Demon Soccer Complex (Natchitoches, La.)
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack soccer team begins their unprecedented quest for a fourth consecutive Southland Conference title, opening league play at Northwestern State on Sunday in a 1 p.m. match at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex.
"We are really excited about conference play opening up this weekend," head coach Wally Crittenden said. "We played a heavy non-conference schedule and have had lighter weeks recently which has allowed us to manage our roster and allow our players to heal in preparation for this game on Sunday. Our training room, led by Josh Lammert, has done a fantastic job and I feel really confident about how we have managed training loads the past 10 days.
"Our players will be ready physically and I trust that emotionally they will be focused and excited to perform against a good Northwestern squad who will be motivated to play at home this Sunday. The opening weekend of conference, home or away, is very important, as the league will begin to separate quickly. We will continue to fine tune various things in training this week and go to Northwestern ready to give them our best shot at starting conference on the right foot."
NOTES:
• SFA vs. NWST - SFA and the Lady Demons will be meeting for the 28th time on the pitch when the two teams take the field on Friday afternoon. The Ladyjacks hold a 17-6-4 all-time advantage over NWST, having won their last five meetings. SFA has not lost to the Lady Demons since 2002, falling 4-0 at home on September 27th. The Ladyjacks are 11-0-2 since their last loss to the Lady Demons, defeating NWST 2-0 at home last season.
• Scouting NWST - The Lady Demons open their Southland season on Friday, heading to Lamar for a 7 p.m. match at the Lamar Soccer Complex. NWST finished its non-conference slate with a 3-5 record, defeating Louisiana College (9-1) to open the season, before most recently downing Prairie View A&M (4-0) and Jackson State (6-0) in its last two matches. Freshman Esdeina Gonzalez leads the Lady Demons with 13 points, compiling six goals and one assist through eight matches. Senior Julia Ranalli sits second on the team with seven points, on three assists and two goals, while Cassandra Briscoe, Cache' Haley and Nikki Saunders, hold a three-way tie for third on the team with five points. NWST has deployed two different goalies this season, with freshman Alex Latham appearing in seven matches (six starts) and junior Brooke Bourbonais appearing in six (two starts). Latham has posted a 3-3 record in the net, allowing 13 goals and making 18 saves across 52 shots faced over 448 minutes in goal, while Bourbonais sits 0-2, allowing six goals and making 12 saves across 34 shots faced over 271 minutes.
• Looking Ahead - Following Sunday's tilt with NWST, the Ladyjacks will return to the SFA Soccer Field for a 7 p.m. match with Lamar on Friday, Sept. 26.
• Crittenden On Last Time Out (vs. Southern) - "It was good game. From a competitive standpoint, we knew we were going to be able to do some things. We expected that if we came out with a renewed edge and a renewed sense of purpose in response to our Friday night game, we would be able to put ourselves in positions to be successful. Ultimately, we wanted to make sure that we added some variety in our attack, so when we got into the second half, we put stress on our players to begin connecting the ball in the middle and to play through traffic, as opposed to playing on the flank, on the perimeter and ultimately with the diagonal ball that worked really well today."
• Raymond In The Record Books - Senior Chelsea Raymond, already the all-time goals leader (43) and shots leader (266) at SFA, became the all-time career points at SFA with a goal against Southern (9/14). Raymond scored her second goal of the season at Louisiana-Monroe (9/12) to tie the all-time mark of 96 points, before striking on a one-on-one opportunity in the 53rd minute against SU to hold the points outright with 98. Raymond also sits tied for seventh all-time with 12 assists in her career.
• Dunnigan SLC Defensive Player of the Week - Senior Megan Dunnigan took home her second Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season, after helping the Ladyjacks to a 0-0 double overtime draw at LSU on Monday, Sept. 8. The native of Round Rock, Texas (Vista Ridge HS), captained the SFA back line, playing 99 minutes of lock-down defense in holding the Tigers scoreless to pick up the first tie of the season for the Ladyjacks.
• Glick SLC Goalkeeper of the Week - Senior Morgan Glick took home her second Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season, after helping the Ladyjacks to a 0-0 double overtime draw at LSU on Monday, Sept. 8. The native of Boerne, Texas (Champion HS), anchored SFA, playing all 110 minutes in the net. The keeper made 10 saves and did not allow any goals across 26 shots faced from the Tigers.
• Climbing In Assists - Seniors Zuri Prince and Chelsea Raymond continue to climb the record book in assists. Prince entered the season with 13 assists and has since added four through the first seven matches move into third place all-time. Raymond has 12 career assists, good enough for a share of seventh all-time.
• Dunnigan SLC Defensive Player of the Week - Senior Megan Dunnigan took home the first Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor, after helping the Ladyjacks to a 1-1 start to the 2014 season. The native of Round Rock, Texas (Vista Ridge HS), captained the SFA back line to a 2-0 shutout of Oregon State for the program's first-ever win in program history and followed by limiting No. 9 Texas A&M to just one goal. Dunnigan played all 180 minutes and took two shots.
• Glick SLC Goalkeeper of the Week - Senior Morgan Glick took home the first Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honor, after helping the Ladyjacks to a 1-1 start to the 2014 season. The native of Boerne, Texas (Champion HS), anchored the SFA back line to a 2-0 shutout of Oregon State for the program's first-ever win in program history and followed by limiting No. 9 Texas A&M to just one goal. Glick, playing every minute in goal, made 10 saves across 39 shots faced, with eight coming against the Aggies.
• Entering The Season - The Ladyjacks enter the season looking to continue the success that was achieved under Crittenden in his first season. In 2013, SFA became the first three-peat conference champions in Southland history. Along the way, the Ladyjacks matched the best regular season game win total with 15 wins, setting a new shutout record with 14 blankings of the opponent. SFA also posted its first undefeated season on the road with a 9-0-3 mark. Last season, the stout Ladyjack defense led the SLC in goals allowed (12) and shutouts (14) while offense ranked fourth in goals (44) and assists (28). SFA, which at one time led the nation in both respective statistical categories, ended the season ranked ninth nationally with a .636 shutout percentage and 10th nationally with a .520 goals against average.
• No Place Like Home - SFA owns a 105-41-12 (.707) all-time mark at home, but it has been their recent success in Nacogdoches that stands out. The Ladyjacks have posted a 32-4-0 record over last four-plus seasons at the SFA Soccer Field.
• Picked To Click - SFA was picked to win the 2014 regular-season crown in polls conducted by the league's coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced Thursday, Aug. 14. The Ladyjacks received 11 first-place votes from the coaches and nine first-place nods from the SIDs to earn a total of 121 points in the coaches' poll and 119 in the SID poll.
• Preseason All-SLC - The Ladyjacks placed six on the 2014 preseason all-conference teams, including a league-high four on the first team, the Southland Conference office announced Wednesday, Aug. 13. Senior forwards Chelsea Raymond and Zuri Prince and sister defenders Megan Dunnigan, a senior, and Brooke Dunnigan, a sophomore, made up the first team, while junior defenders Rachel Owens and Chantal Curry each earned a spot on the second team.
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