LAKE CHARLES – The Cowgirls (7-3-1, 3-1) fell to the Lady Jacks (6-5, 3-1) Friday night, defeated by Stephen F Austin 2-0. The Cowgirls will return to Cowgirl Field on Sunday for their second home stand of the weekend, and face Sam Houston State University for their fifth conference match up.

McNeese allowed to goal tonight for the first time this season, the first coming off the head of senior SFA defender, Kennedy Rose when her teammate Hanna Barker sent a high ball into the box on a Lady Jack corner kick in the seventh minute of play. Barker, a two time Southland Conference Player of the Week winner, scored one of her own in the second period, taking a pass from a teammate and finding the Cowgirl goalkeeper up in the box to get one behind her and into the back of the net.

Stephen F Austin only had three shots on goal, leaving freshman goalkeeper, Emma Roccaforte with one save on the night. Her record falls to 5-2 on the season. McNeese kept the Lady Jacks to their lowest shooting percentage of the season, giving up only five total shots- a feat only accomplished by TCU at SFA during their season opener.

"I think SFA put a nice goal in off a corner, so credit to them on the first goal," head coach Drew Fitzgerald says. "For most of the game I was very pleased with our team's performance. I do feel as if we outplayed them for spurts at a time; we just need to find a way to be more dangerous in the final third."

The 90 minutes of play was highly defensive for both teams, with four yellow cards and 18 fouls between the two squads.  The Cowgirls were held scoreless for only the fourth time this season, and allowed two goals in one match for the first time in 11 games. 

Senior Savannah LaRicci led all players with five shots and two on goal. Teammates Gabi D'Alesandro and Kayla Goedicke contributed two shots on goal to the stat sheet as well. The defensive powerhouse that drives the Cowgirls success was directed by Nikki Schaaf and Sarah Clayton who fortified the pitch for all 90 minutes of tonight's match.

McNeese will take on its next opponent, Sunday at 1PM at Cowgirl Field, when they play host to Sam Houston State University. Fitzgerald says, "We need to put this game behind us and get ready for a tough Sam team on Sunday."
Live stats and streaming will be available for fans on Sunday, at McNeeseSports.com.