Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana
SFA Brings Home the W from Hammond, 4-0
10/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Hammond, La. – Stephen F. Austin put their fifth shutout of the season in the books after they notched a 4-0 win against Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday afternoon. This win also marks the 50th career win for Head Coach Wally Crittenden. He boasts a 50-18-6 record in his four years of coaching, and three Southland Coach of the Year awards from his time in Nacogdoches.
“A good outcome today due to another good performance this weekend,” said Crittenden. “We played well on Friday night also. The difference between today and Friday was a little bit of execution and focus in both the defensive and attacking boxes. This is why we focus on our process and quality of performance as opposed to results. If we were results driven, today would have been much tougher as Friday was disappointing. However, we kept a level head and approached today the same way we have approached every other game this season, but with a bit more appreciation for execution in critical moments.”
Junior Hanna Barker scored the first goal of the match in the 19th minute. The goal would be Barker’s eighth goal of the season and her new career high record. Senior Amanda Doyle would get the second mark for SFA in the 28th minute and her fifth goal on the season. Senior Hailey Hunt would get her third goal of the season to increase SFA’s lead to 3-0. In the 77th minute, sophomore Crystal Calvit would put away her second goal of the season, also a career high record, to seal the game at 4-0. SFA would have three assists on the afternoon, coming from Barker, junior Michaela Mencacci, and freshman Mari Gillespie.
In true Ladyjack fashion, SFA would get four shots off from the beginning whistle to the eighth minute mark. Hunt and sophomore Breanna Moore struck first for SFA forcing the Southeastern Louisiana goalie to make two saves. Not soon after that, Gillespie and senior Kelly Ann Craig would get a crack at the goal, but it would be Barker who would put the first score on the board for the Ladyjacks. Barker would steal a pass from sophomore Madison Hall behind the goal keeper and head it in to take the early lead at the 19:38 minute mark. SFA would strike again after Barker would get a through-ball up to Doyle. Doyle would then pound it through the left corner for push to the lead to 2-0. The Lions would try to answer back in the 28th minute, but senior goalkeeper Lillie Ehlert would make a vertical leap to snatch it out of the air. Freshman Katie Jennings would make the last play on goal for SFA before the half, firing a shot to the right side but it would be cradled by the Lions goalie.
After the break, Southeastern Louisiana would take a stab first with a shot at 45:21, but it would go high over the net. Play would stay around midfield until about the 61st minute mark. Gillespie would get a through-ball cleared up to Hunt who would snipe the ball through the net to increase the Ladyjack lead to 3-0. Southeastern when then go on the offense taking three corner kicks, but they would all be cleared by the SFA defense. Time would wind down to the 76th minute before SFA would get another break. Calvit would receive a cleared ball down the right flank from Mencacci, and Calvit would put it away from the corner making it a 4-0 SFA lead. SFA would get two more shots off from Jennings and freshman Brooke Shirley before the clock would expire.
SFA advances to 9-4-0 overall and 6-2-0 in conference play. Ehlert had eight saves on the afternoon against 13 shots. She improves her record to 9-3-0 and cuts her goals against average to 0.93. SFA would outshoot the Lions, 22-13, with 11-8 shots on goal. Both teams would be tied at 2 corners apiece, and SFA would have the lead in saves 8-7.
“I am very proud of our staff and our players for how they move forward through the weekend and look forward to two good games back at home,” finished Crittenden.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action on Friday for their three game home stand to complete the 2016 regular season. They will match up against Abilene Christian Friday evening at 7:00 p.m., and then take on Incarnate Word on Sunday. Both games will be live streamed on ESPN3.
-SFA-
