Aug. 24, 2008

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas - Two days after winning its opening match of the season, the Colonel soccer picked up its second 'W' with a 5-1 win over Texas Southern Sunday afternoon at Delmar Stadium. The Colonels improve to 2-0 on the season.

Nicholls got on the board early as senior Katherine Peters (Alexandria, La./Louisiana Tech) slipped one past the Texas Southern keeper into the back-right corner of the net off a pass from Alicia Gautreau (Gonzales, La./East Ascension) in the 10th minute.

"I thought this was a great second match for us," said head coach Cindy Piper. "We came out and were a little sore and tired from Friday night, and that showed early on. We did get a goal in the first 10 minutes, but there wasn't a big build-up - which is something we're struggling with so far this season."

The Tigers came close to knotting it up in the 29th minute when a set piece from 20 yards out by Angelica Belford went just left of the goal.

The Colonels added an insurance goal just prior to halftime for a 2-0 advantage heading into the break. Freshman Keisha Brown (Cedar Hill, Texas/Cedar Hill) headed the ball over goalie Keisha McDaniel off a corner kick by junior Jessica Bedford (Northamptonshire, England/Wollaston School) in the 44th minute.

Less than six minutes into the second half, Belford put the Tigers on the scoreboard, bringing sophomore keeper Molly Mersereau out of the box for an open shot from 10 yards out and cutting the Colonel lead in half.

But Nicholls got right back in the game, scoring a third goal off the foot of Kaity Mattsson (Bracebridge, Canada/Bracebridge & Muskoka Lakes Secondary) who knocked Caitlyn Donegan's (Thibodaux, La./E.D. White Catholic) cross around the Tiger keeper into the net.

Kandice Champagne (Houma, La./Terrebonne) added to the Colonel lead, sliding a pass from freshman Carolyn Noble (Burlington, Ontario/Lester B. Pearson) past the Tiger goalie to put Nicholls up 4-1 with less than six minutes remaining.

"It was good to see different people scoring," noted Piper, "including two goals from our senior."

Shortly after, Peters scored her second goal of the game at the 15-second mark. Peterson chipped freshman Michaela Gaudin's (Gonzales, La./East Ascension) pass over the outstretched hands of Abimbola Telufusi, the Tiger keeper, to seal the win for Nicholls.

"I thought it was good that we got a few of goals in the second half," Piper said. "That 2-0 halftime score can go either way in this game, so it's good to see that we can put three more in through the second half. We're doing a good job producing goals."

Sophomore Molly Mersereau (Riverside, Calif./Riverside) allowed one goal and made one save in her 79+ minutes in goal, while freshman Sarah Damen (Houma, La./Terrebonne) finished out the game for Nicholls, spending just over 10 minutes in the net.

The Colonels will travel to Mobile, Ala., on Friday to face the South Alabama Jaguars. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m. at The Cage.

"We got some more kids in the game and got to see some more things, which is only going to help us for next weekend," added Piper. "These past two games have been good for us to see where we stand and what we need to do. Hopefully, with South Alabama and Troy next weekend, we can step back on the field and do some of the same things and have the same results."

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