LAKE CHARLES – The Cowgirls will be traveling to Thibodeaux, Louisiana on Friday for a 4:00PM contest against Nicholls, looking for their third straight win in the Colonels-Cowgirls series.
"Nicholls is always a tough game, especially at their place. This year they've been a counter attacking team to we've got to be organized to defend as we attack," head coach
Drew Fitzgerald said.
Last season's meeting between the two teams was a 4-0 shutout victory by McNeese over Nicholls, right here in Lake Charles. Four current Cowgirls,
Rachel Palet,
Nola Prickett,
Savannah LaRicci, and
Kayla Goedicke, all made the dominating win a possibility with one goal a piece.
McNeese (8-3-1) is heading to Nicholls (5-7) after a 1-0 victory over the Bearkats of Sam Houston State on Sunday (October 1). The Cowgirls dropped last week's Friday match to the Lady Jacks, giving them their only conference loss.
The Colonels are currently 2-3 in conference play, most recently defeating Texas A&M- Corpus Christi 2-1 in overtime. Nicholls dropped its Friday evening match to Houston Baptist, the defending tournament champions in a 4-0 shutout to the Huskies.
Nicholls has a diverse roster. Haylee Atwell, a junior midfield for the Colonels, leads her team with four goals, while their shots leader is senior midfield Mie Elvestad, and shots on goal leader is Emily Werenskiold, a senior midfielder.
"They can be dough to break down so it's key that we are active off the ball. The Colonels are also a threat to score from just about anywhere inside 40 yards so we need to limit their attacking opportunities," Fitzgerald said.
Offensive attacker
Savannah LaRicci leads the SLC in game winning goals (4) and falls amongst the top three in seven other scoring categories.
The McNeese soccer defense is one of the best in the conference, boasting the least amount of goals allowed and limiting their teams to low shot counts in each contest.
Freshman goalkeeper,
Emma Roccaforte maintains her spot at the top of multiple defensive stats in the Southland Conference, including best save percentage, most shutouts, and best goals against average. The Cowgirl goalkeeping unit has allowed only five goals this season, for a combined save percentage of 91.4%.
The Nicholls GKs will not be any easy defeat for the McNeese attack, with two active goalkeepers who rank not far behind Roccaforte in saves and goals against average.
Friday's match will be the Cowgirls lone contest of the weekend, and with Sunday off- will have an extra day to recover and continue conference play next Friday (October 13) when they host Abilene Christian.
This weekend's match is slated for a 4:00PM kick-off at the Nicholls Soccer Complex, admission is free for all fans. Live stats will be available for fans at http://www.sidearmstats.com/nicholls/wsoc/. Fans are encouraged to follow Cowgirl Soccer on Twitter at @McNeeseSoccer for live in game updates, and visit McNeeseSports.com for box scores and post-game coverage.
