Box Score and Play-by-Play

NEW ORLEANS - Junior midfielder Sam Etherington got things going with her first goal of the season off a penalty kick, senior forward Kaity Mattsson gave the Colonels some insurance with her seventh goal in four matches, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Molly Mersereau tallied five saves for her first complete game shutout victory of the season as the Nicholls State University women's soccer team (3-0-1) picked up a hard-fought 2-0 win over Jackson State (1-2-0) on Friday afternoon at Pan American Stadium in New Orleans' City Park.

The match, originally scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Colonels' home field in Thibodaux was moved to Pan American Stadium due to unplayable field conditions.

Nicholls would find itself in a physical match with the Tigers, who entered the midweek contest after opening the season with a 1-0 win over South Alabama at home on Aug. 20 and a hard-fought 1-0 loss on the road at Lipscomb on Aug. 29.  The two teams combined for 23 fouls on day, and Nicholls broke through with the first goal of the afternoon thanks in part to some overly aggressive Jackson State defense.

The Colonels pushed ahead in the 18th minute and junior forward Kandice Champagne had an open shot in the goal box, but was dragged down in the box by a JSU defender.  The officials awarded the Colonels a penalty kick and Etherington buried it in the top left corner to put the Colonels up 1-0 at the 17:42 mark of the first half.

Neither side could break through the rest of the half as Mersereau and JSU keeper Allison Lane each recorded four first half saves to keep the offenses at bay and send the match to halftime with the Colonels up 1-0.

Nicholls came out strong in the second half, increasing their offensive pressure and outshooting the Tigers 6-3 in the second (14-9 on the day).  The Colonels broke through again as senior midfielder Jasmine Elsayed served in a perfect cross to Mattsson on a breakaway down the left hand side of the field.  Mattsson buried her seventh goal of the season by beating Lane on the top left shelf at the 57:31 mark.

With a 2-0 lead, the Colonel defense sitffened.  The Tigers kept up the pressure, recording 10 corner kicks on the afternoon, six of which came in the first half.  However, the Nicholls defense forced four of nine JSU shots off target and Mersereau made a save on the Tigers only breakaway of the second half to preserve the shutout win.

Friday's contest marked Mersereau's first complete game shutout victory of the season.  The Riverside, Calif. native has not allowed a goal in her first 255:00 minutes of the season.  However, Mersereau's first 120 shutout minutes came in a double overtime scoreless tie with Prairie View A&M, she sat out the Colonels' shutout 8-0 win over Alcorn State, and she only played the first half of the Colonels win over Southern before exiting the game with a 3-0 lead.

The Colonels will return to action on Sunday when they head north to take on in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe.  Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at UL-Monroe. 

Already off to the best start to the season in school history, a win over the Warhawks would mark the fourth time the Colonels have reached their single season school record of four wins.  Since the founding of the program in 1998, the Colonels have won four matches in 2003, 2006 and 2009.