Thursday, August 23
Fort Worth, Texas
7:00 PM
Stephen F. Austin
at
TCU
Road Matchup with Horned Frogs Awaits SFA Soccer on Thursday
8/22/2018 10:52:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SFA is 3-1-1 in third game of season under Crittenden
NACOGDOCHES, Texas—Fresh off the opening weekend of the 2018 campaign and a pair of home contests to start it off, the Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team makes its first road trip of the season this Thursday to face Texas Christian University at 7:00 p.m. The trip marks the sixth time that the 'Jacks have traveled to Fort Worth to face the Horned Frogs, and second straight season in which the teams have faced off.
"I think it's great to get on the field again as soon as we can", said SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "There were some really good positives that we saw in the game Sunday night and Friday, and for me that gives us a chance to keep building, keep growing and keep defining who we are and how we want to play against the best, and TCU will certainly present that challenge. I love that we're on the road, I'm excited to see how we play on the road and for us to accomplish our goals we need to be able to travel well."
The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest, and live stats for the games are available via the link above. Fans are also encouraged to follow the Ladyjacks on Twitter (@SFA_Soccer) for in-game updates and other information.
Sitting at an even .500 after a win over LSU-Shreveport in the opener and a loss to Mississippi State two days later, the Ladyjacks will look to replicate the success of the 2012 season, when SFA knocked off the Frogs by a 2-0 score on the road. TCU is 2-0 with a pair of 1-0 wins under its belt to kick off the campaign, having most recently beaten fellow Southland Conference member McNeese by a 1-0 score on Sunday.
The Horned Frogs return a total of 22 letterwinners and eight starters from a year ago, and were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll to begin the season. Head coach Eric Bell is 53-49 in seven seasons at the helm of TCU, and has led the program to its only two NCAA Tournament appearances in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Frogs carry a 7-2 edge in the all-time series between the two programs, with the win in Nacogdoches last season breaking up a pair of SFA victories in 2011 and 2012.
"We know they will put some emphasis on set pieces", Crittenden said of TCU. "When you play a team that you know will be big and strong and fast, you know set pieces are going to be big. What we expect from them will be an athletic side that looks to possess and build more than our previous two opponents, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
After waltzing through a pair of exhibition wins against Louisiana-Monroe and Houston, the Ladyjacks defeated LSU-Shreveport 1-0 on Friday to open the 2018 season. SFA followed that with a tough battle against Mississippi State in a match that was tighter than the 3-0 score line suggested. Thursday's matchup is the second of three "Power 5" institutions that the 'Jacks play in a four-game stretch, and fortunately for SFA is the lone game of the week for the squad.
"From a consistency standpoint we've been very consistent from day one of preseason", explained Crittenden. " Certainly we didn't execute the way we wanted to on Friday, some of that was internal, some of that was due to the restrictions I put on our team, and some of that was due to a vastly improved LSU-Shreveport team. We knew Mississippi State was going to be very athletic and we thought we had a good gameplan in place, but that resulted in three set piece goals that we'll have to look to improve upon."
With a lone game this week, the 'Jacks will next take on Texas Southern and the University of Texas, both on the road, on August 31 and September 2, respectively. The next home contest for SFA will be a September 7 fixture against Southern Mississippi.
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