LAKE CHARLES – McNeese Soccer defeated the Southern Jaguars Friday night 4-0, for their fourth shutout of the 2017 season. Four Cowgirls were able to find the back of the net, Savannah LaRicci (1), Havana Johnson (4), Rachel Palet (1), and Kirsten Diaz (1).
 
With 21 minutes behind them, the Cowgirl offense found their groove and Savannah LaRicci clipped one into the back of the net, with Rachel Palet assisting her on the goal. Last year, LaRicci lead the Cowgirls with ten goals on the season. LaRicci was then able to assist her freshman teammate Havana Johnson with her fourth goal of the season, as McNeese took a 2-0 lead in the first period.
 
Only 12 minutes later did the Cowgirls drill one into the net for a third goal, this one coming from junior Nola Prickett and off the foot of Rachel Palet. The Cowgirl's final goal of the night came in the second period, with 63:20 on the clock, Southern committed a foul, giving McNeese a set piece opportunity.
 
"Nikki played a really nice ball behind the back line, Mariah made a fantastic run to get to the ball, and I was there to put it in the net." Kirsten Diaz says about her goal, "Its really rewarding to see our set pieces come together with all the hard work we've put into them. Our offense worked hard tonight trying to read and make the runs our midfielders and defenders were able to visualize."
 
Redshirt junior Brianna Lovett walked away with the win tonight, recording two saves in six shots faced within her 66 minutes on the pitch. In for the Cowgirls to finish the match was freshman Emma Roccaforte who added 23:20 minutes of play to her stats.
 
McNeese heavily outshot Southern with 25 shots to the Jaguars six, the Cowgirls 25 shots was the most in a match so far this season. They also recorded a season high of 13 points, with sophomore midfielder Rachel Palet and senior forward Savannah LaRicci each awarded three points, for one goal and one assist a piece.
 
Nikki Schaaf, a senior defender earned the assist on Diaz's goal after she took a free kick off a Southern penalty. Nikki was also a part of a defense that held Southern to only six total shots, with Nikki on the pitch, Cowgirl opponents only average 11 shots per game. "It was great to get a shutout against a good physical team tonight. This game gave us the opportunity to play everyone on the team which resulted in four different girls getting the goal."
 
Second year head coach, Drew Fitzgerald is now 12-12-2 at the helm, "I am excited we got to give some players an opportunity to step up. It was good to get a couple players on the board with multiple goals. Now, we prepare for Sunday." Tonight's win advances the Cowgirls to 3-2-1 on the season, with their last non-conference match this weekend at Prairie View A&M.

Sunday's match on September 10 against Prairie View A&M will take place in Prairie View, Texas with a 1:00PM kick off. You can find live updates on Twitter when you follow the Cowgirls at @McNeeseSoccer, or find links the live stats at www.PVPanthers.com