Aug. 22, 2008

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. - Junior Alicia Gautreau (Gonzales, La./East Ascension) posted a hat trick and sophomore Kaity Mattsson (Bracebridge, Canada/Bracebridge & Muskoka Lakes Secondary) came off the bench to bag a brace as Nicholls claimed a 6-0 victory over the Southern Jaguars Friday night in the opening game of the 2008 soccer season.

"I thought it was a good night for us, an exciting night," said head coach Cindy Piper. "I know there were a lot of nerves going into this game, both from the players and the coaches, because we weren't sure what we had yet. It was pretty exciting to see such a talented bunch on the field."

Nicholls improves to 1-0 on the early season.

The Colonels got on the board early as Gautreau put one in the back of the net from six yards out in the 19th minute of the first half with an assist from junior Caitlyn Donegan (Thibodaux, La./E.D. White Catholic).

Less than four minutes later, Gautreau doubled the Colonel lead, slipping one past Jaguar keeper Kendall Smith off a pass from freshman Alana DeHart (Houma, La./Vandebilt Catholic).

"I think that the start of the game, the first 15 minutes or so, everyone was trying to feel each other out," Piper added, "but we knew that first goal was going to come eventually. As soon as that first ball went into the back of the net, you could tell that everything fell into place for us. And then, every four minutes we were scoring goals. It was fun to watch. It was good to see Alicia [Gautreau] score early and often. Three goals tonight gets her season started off really well."

In the 28th minute Donegan pushed a pass from freshman Sam Etherington (Newcastle, England/Gateshead Women's) into the back left corner of net to give the Colonels a 3-0 lead.

With four minutes remaining in the half, Kandice Champagne (Houma, La./Terrebonne) chipped a pass over the Jaguar defense where Mattsson used two touches to put the ball in the net.

Nicholls added to its lead in the second half as Gautreau scored the fifth goal of the evening off a pass from the left side off the foot of Etherington. Gautreau set up her third goal of the night with one touch before knocking the ball through and giving Nicholls a 5-0 lead.

In the 53rd minute of action, Gautreau passed the ball across the goal to Mattsson, who one-touched the ball through for the sixth, and final, goal of the night.

"Jessica Bedford and Carolyn Noble ran the center mid[field] for us for a while and did a great job," said Piper. "They dictated those six goals. Everything went through them. It was a great effort by everybody. Caitlyn Donegan is making great runs on the outside and things are falling into place for us."

Goalkeepers Molly Mersereau (Riverside, Calif./Riverside) and Sarah Damen (Houma, La./Terrebonne) combined for a clean sheet. Mersereau saw just over 69 minutes in goal and tallied four saves, while Damen, a freshman, logged two saves through 21 minutes in her first collegiate appearance.

"We had a lot of young kids out on the field, getting into the game tonight, which is exciting to see because that's the future of Nicholls soccer," Piper noted. "We had two freshmen playing center back for us tonight and two sophomores on the outside. Our goalkeeper is a sophomore too, so you're looking at freshmen and sophomores anchoring our defense and we had the shut out, so that just goes to show that those kids can step up and help."

Etherington handed out two assists on the night, while Donegan, DeHart, Champagne and Gautreau each posted one.

The Colonels travel to Houston, Texas Sunday to face Texas Southern. Match time is set for 1 p.m.

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