Oct. 4, 2009
Box Score
HAMMOND, La. - Battling driving rains and one of the top offenses in the Southland Conference, a strong second half rally wasn't enough for the Nicholls State University women's soccer team (4-8-0, 0-1-0 Southland) as the Colonels fell to Southeastern Louisiana 2-1 in the conference opener for both squads on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams found the going tough early on as steady rains that lasted all game long turned an already heavily saturated Southeastern soccer field into a mud-filled mess.
However, the Lions managed to strike first with a goal from Maiya Cooper, who entered the contest tops in the league with a 2.38 goal/game average, 15 minutes in. Cooper's ninth goal of the season, good for second in the conference, gave the Lions a 1-0 advantage.
Neither side could find their footing as the rains steadily increased, until the Lions broke through again with a goal from Natalie Santana in the 35th minute.
However, the Colonels refused to let a 2-0 halftime deficit keep them down.
"The first half it may have taken us some time to adjust to the weather conditions," head coach Dylan Harrison said. "We tried to do a little too much, so we tried to get our girls focused on playing smarter in the second half."
The Colonels responded by dominating posession when play resumed. The Nicholls defense kept the Southeastern offense (ranked first in the league in goals, points and assists) off the board and limited the Lions to just five shots in the second half.
Meanwhile, the Nicholls offense found its stride in the second half as sophomore midfielder Carolyn Noble was dragged down just outside of the Southeastern box, drawing a foul that would lead to the Colonels' first goal of the match.
Sam Etherington played the ensuing free kick to Jasmine Elsayed who immediately found senior forward Alicia Gautreau. The Gonzales native redirected it past Southeastern goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus to cut the Nicholls' deficit to 2-1 in the 70th minute.
The Colonels kept up the pressure late in the second half, but it wasn't enough as the Lions held on for the 2-1 win.
"We did a good job of limiting their chances," Harrison said. "Unfortunately, the only two good chances we allowed, they were able to capitalize on. That's what we need to start doing. I was very pleased with the way we responded being down 2-0 at the start of the second half. We kept battling and had some great chances, and we were able to get a goal that we deserved.
"It's good to get that first conference game under your belt and play the way that we did," Harrison said. "That's a pretty good team, and the fact that we were able to hang tough with them shows our girls that there is no reason we can't play with teams in this league. We just need to play smarter, continue to work hard, keep creating chances for ourselves and be ready to make teams pay when we get those chances."
After wrapping up a stretch of three games in six days, the Colonels will hit the road for their first conference road trip of the season. Nicholls will head to Stephen F. Austin on Friday, Oct. 9 before taking on Sam Houston State on Sunday, Oct. 11.
The Colonels will return to Nicholls to host defending Southland Conference regular season and tournament champion Texas State on Oct. 16.
