Aug. 23, 2009

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Junior Molly Merserau totaled six crucial saves, but it wasn't enough to stop the Southern Miss attack as a depleted Nicholls State University women's soccer team fell to the Golden Eagles by a score of 6-0 in Hattiesburg on Sunday.

With senior forward Alicia Gautreau sitting out with an injury, junior forward Kaity Mattsson sidelined for picking up a red card in the 2008 finale and nagging injuries to numerous other players, the Colonels were short-handed in their 2009 season opener and Southern Miss took advantage.

The Golden Eagles tallied six goals while shutting out the Colonels on Sunday. However, first-year head coach Dylan Harrison feels Sunday's match could help the Colonels in the long run.

"It would be one thing if we played our best game and that was the result, but that definitely wasn't the case," Harrison said. "We can play much better than that. One of the things we are looking to move forward with is getting into a more competitive mindset. One thing we need to improve on is that when we give up a goal, early or late, we still want to pick up the intensity and respond form that. Our next goal is to make sure we have the proper mental and tactical understanding of what we need to do to get ourselves back into games."

The day was not without any highlights for the Colonels. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Molly Merserau returned to action for the first time since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last Aug. 24 against Texas Southern.

The Riverside, Calif. native made six crucial saves on the day against a Southern Miss offense that generated 34 shots and 15 corner kicks.

Meanwhile, Harrison saw glimpses from the Nicholls offense that he says will provide a foundation for future games.

"Molly made quite a few big saves and it would not have been nearly as close without her," Harrison said. "We had some players playing out of position due to who we had sitting out. The few times we went forward, we got some decent shots on target. We just need to create more chances. The chances we did create were decent, but we are going to need more of them."

The Colonels will return home to open up their first (and longest) homestand of the season on Friday when they host in-state rival Southern with a 4 p.m. kickoff. Nicholls will then host Troy (Aug. 30) and Louisiana Tech (Sept. 4).

Admission to all home games at the Nicholls State Soccer Complex is three dollars. Children under 12 and Nicholls students with a valid student ID will be admitted free.