Aug. 25, 2007

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Although nothing was on the line for the Colonels soccer team, a good outing against an SEC team in Friday's exhibition could go a long way towards a berth in the postseason. Unfortunately, weather reeked havoc in the Starkville area, eventually canceling the game between Nicholls and Mississippi State, but not before each team got on the board, ending the game with a 1-1 tie.

The teams were only able to play 30 of the scheduled 90 minutes of the scrimmage before torrential rain and lightning caused the referees to call the game off after a half hour rain delay. "It was a pretty physical match, and I was very pleased with the effort the team gave tonight," Piper said. "Although we only had 28 minutes to use, we were still able to get a lot out of the match that we can use for next week."

Mississippi State scored first, 11 minutes in the game when Treena Ferguson got a shot past Nicholls goalie Molly Mersereau that found its way to the back of the net giving the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, the Colonels fought back and scored a goal of their own on a counter attack when Kaity Mattssonn found Alicia Gautreau who got around Bulldog goalie Tayrn Holland for the score.

"We matched up really well against Mississippi State, and that really means something going into the regular season," Piper said. "We accomplished a lot of goals after playing the way we did tonight, and we have a lot to look forward to next week against Troy."

The Colonels will kick off the 2007 regular season at home against Troy, Friday, August 31 at 4 p.m. at the Colonels Soccer Complex.