SFA Opens SLC Play at Home on Friday
9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Stephen F. Austin (1-6-0) vs. Northwestern State (3-4-1)
Friday, September 18 • 7:00 p.m.
SFA Soccer Field • Nacogdoches, Texas
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- The road to a fifth consecutive Southland Conference Championship begins on Friday night and the Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team is more than ready to kick off the conference portion of its schedule in front of the home fans. The Ladyjacks will take on Northwestern State at SFA Soccer Field with a 7:00 p.m. start time.
"We are really excited to start conference," said head coach Wally Crittenden. "We're in a great place as a team right now, both mentally and physically. Northwestern State is a good team. They're well coached and they have a good program. It'll be a very dynamic game and a rivalry game in every sense -- with a lot of emotion, pressing, and physical play. I'll tell you it's not going to be anything we haven't seen already this year with the physical teams we've played against."
The Ladyjacks have experienced an unprecedented amount of success in the Southland over the last several years, winning four straight regular season league titles dating back to 2011. SFA posted an unblemished 11-0-0 mark in the league last year and hasn't lost a game in conference in nearly two years. Former SLC member Oral Roberts was the last to pull it off, beating the Ladyjacks 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 21, 2013 in the SLC season opener.
SFA will look to keep the winning trend going on Friday night after experiencing a slow start to the season against quality opposition. With a non-conference slate ranked as one of the toughest in the nation, jam packed with teams from Power Five conferences, the Ladyjacks feel as though they have prepared themselves for the strong opponents they'll face in the SLC.
The first of those tests will be Northwestern State on Friday night.
"From a soccer standpoint we are growing and getting better every time we take the field," said Crittenden. "There are some lessons learned with each of the games we've played -- positives and negatives. As we head into conference play, we know a lot about our team and we're very set in our units and rotations. I'm excited to see the performance that our kids will put forth, I'm excited about the energy that I know they'll bring and I can't wait to see the crowd that we have on hand tomorrow night for what will be a great game."
Fans can watch the rivalry game live or follow the live stats feed by following the links above. Updates will also be provided on Twitter @SFA_Soccer.
NOTES
SFA vs. Northwestern State: Entering Friday night's match, SFA holds an 18-6-4 record against Northwestern State in the all-time series history. The Ladyjacks routed the Lady Demons 4-0 in last year's SLC opener on Sept. 21 in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It was SFA's largest margin of victory during league play in 2014. The Ladyjacks have won six straight over the Lady Demons dating back to 2009 and haven't lost a game in the series since 2002, with a 12-0-2 mark against the conference foe since.
Scouting Northwestern State: The Lady Demons come into the conference opener with a 3-4-1 record on the year, getting wins against SWAC members Alcorn State and Jackson State and NAIA school LSU-Alexandria. NSU's best result this season was a 1-1 draw at LSU on Aug. 25. The only common opponent between the Lady Demons and the Ladyjacks so far has been ULM. SFA beat the Warhawks 1-0 at home on Sept. 11 while NSU fell 2-1 in overtime on the road. Freshmen have been leading the Lady Demons offensively this year, as the top five goal scorers are all first-year players. Forwards Kayleigh Phillips (four goals) and Brittany Caserma (three goals) top the scoring list. Overall, freshmen have accounted for 16 of NSU's 20 goals in 2015. Goalkeeping duties have been split between senior Brooke Bourbonais and sophomore Alex Latham with both playing in all eight of NSU's games.
Last Time Out: The Ladyjacks went 1-1 during their home opening weekend at SFA Soccer Field. On Friday night, the squad notched its first win and shutout of the 2015 season in a 1-0 triumph over ULM. Senior Rachel Owens put away her first goal of the year in the fourth minute on an assist from sophomore Hanna Barker. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lillie Ehlert and her defense did the rest to preserve the victory. On Sunday, Texas State came to Nacogdoches and snapped SFA's nine-game home winning streak by a final of 4-0. The streak was the fifth longest active in the nation prior to Sunday's contest.
Southland Dominance: SFA has dominated the Southland soccer scene over the last four seasons. The Ladyjacks have a 38-1-1 league record during the span with four consecutive SLC championships to show for it. SFA, who went 11-0-0 last year, have only lost to a conference opponent once since 2011. That day came nearly two years ago on Sept. 21, 2013 when Oral Roberts won in overtime, 2-1. The Ladyjacks have almost double the amount of regular season titles as the next closest team with nine trophies since the conference started soccer in 1997.
Impressive Streak: After going 11-0-0 last year in the SLC, the Ladyjacks carry an 11-game conference winning streak into the league opener on Friday. It is the second longest active streak in the nation behind Illinois State -- winners of 20 straight games out of the Missouri Valley Conference. SFA was one of only five schools in the country that went undefeated in their respective conference last season. The Ladyjacks' 11 consecutive victories are the most nationally since the beginning of the 2014 season.
Between the Pipes: Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lillie Ehlert has had quite the year for the Ladyjacks in front of goal. In her first season as an everyday starter, Ehlert as accumulated 42 saves in seven games. She currently ranks 35th in the country with an average of 6.00 saves per match. Her .778 save percentage this season puts her fourth among conference keepers.
Getting Booked: Sophomore forward Hanna Barker has been booked for two yellow cards this season for her aggressive style of play. She is one of just 20 players in the country to have been shown yellow at least twice in 2015.
Back Line Mainstay: Junior defender Brooke Dunnigan is the only Ladyjack to have played every minute of the 2015 season so far, staying on the pitch for a total of 630 minutes over seven games. Senior midfielder Rachel Owens has played 625 out of 630 possible minutes and junior defender Kelly Ann Craig has also seen over 600 minutes of action with 603. Dunnigan led the team in minutes played in 2014 with 1,781. She was the only Ladyjack to start all 20 games.
Home Sweet Home: SFA has enjoyed a significant home field advantage over the last five years and hope to continue the trend in 2015. The Ladyjacks are 40-5-0 at SFA Soccer Field since 2010, including undefeated home slates in 2011, 2012 and 2014. SFA is 9-1-0 over its last 10 home games after going a perfect 8-0-0 at home last season and starting 1-1-0 in front of the home fans this year.
Strength of Schedule: The Ladyjacks currently have the 44th toughest schedule in the country based on the records of their past opposition. The first seven teams SFA faced this year are 23-13-6 combined for a .619 winning percentage. Northwestern State has the 94th most difficult schedule to-date.
Preseason All-SLC: The Ladyjacks were well represented with the release of the 2015 Preseason All-Southland Conference teams, earning five selections between the first and second squads. Junior defender Brooke Dunnigan and senior defender Chantal Curry were each named to the first team with sophomore forward Hanna Barker, senior midfielder Rachel Owens and junior midfielder Amanda Doyle representing SFA on the second team.
SFA Picked to Win Fifth Straight SLC Title: SFA was picked to win the 2015 Southland Conference regular season championship in polls conducted by the league's coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced on Wednesday, August 12. The Ladyjacks claimed 116 points with eight first-place votes in the coaches' poll and 119 points with nine first-place votes in the SID poll.
Friday Promotions: Friday's game is SFA Youth Soccer Night at SFA Soccer Field, where children from the Nacogdoches Youth Soccer Association (NYSA) will be recognized during the game. Members of the Lumberjack football team will also be in attendance and the Purple Haze will have a tailgate on site.
Looking Ahead: The Ladyjacks will be off from competition this Sunday following the Northwestern State matchup. SFA will enjoy two more SLC games at home next weekend when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes to town on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. game and Houston Baptist makes the trip on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. start.
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