Soccer: Cajuns and Texas State Battle to 1-1 Draw

Ragin’ Cajuns wrap up regular season with matches against App State, ULM

LAFAYETTE – Freshman Carol Rodriguez scored her second goal in as many matches for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Soccer team in the 10^th minute before Texas State’s Hannah Solano scored off a rebound nearly four minutes later as both teams battled to a 1-1 draw in a Sun Belt Conference match on Sunday at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility.
 
Louisiana (6-8-2, 3-3-2 Sun Belt), 1-0-2 in its last three matches, notched its first-ever draw against Texas State (7-6-2, 4-4-1 Sun Belt) in the 11-match series as it outshot the Bobcats, 18-8, in the match.
 
Rodriguez, who scored the game-winner in Louisiana’s 3-0 win over Little Rock on Thursday, headed in a well-placed corner kick from Ruthny Mathurin and past Texas State goalkeeper Beth Agee for a 1-0 lead.
 
Texas State would respond late in the 13^th minute when Zoe Junior’s shot caromed off the crossbar and found Solano, who knocked the ball past Louisiana goalkeeper Libby Harper for her first goal of the year.
 
The Bobcats attempted five of their eight shots in the opening 45 minutes with Harper stopping an attempt from Junior in the sixth minute and an on-goal attempt from Bailey Peschel in the 20^th minute.
 
Louisiana had a scoring opportunity in the 44^th minute after Texas State was called for a hand ball in front of the Ragin’ Cajuns goal. Agee, who posted three saves in the match, stopped Mathurin’s penalty kick attempt in the lower right corner to preserve the tie.
 
Harper, who posted four saves for Louisiana, stopped on-goal attempts by Peschel and Mya Ulloa in the second half while Agee kept a pair of attempts from Rachel Sutter in the final 10 minutes of regulation from finding the back of the net.
 
Louisiana, which entered the match 17^th nationally in shot accuracy (.565), managed four shots on goal – its fewest since two against Prairie View on Aug. 20. Mathurin, Anna Grassinger and Lucy Ortiz each played all 110 minutes on the pitch for Louisiana with Izzy Wheeler logging 104, Savanna Young 99 and Karleen Bedre 97.
 
Peschel had a pair of on-goal opportunities for Texas State, which placed five shots on goal while four position players – Kamaria Williams, Avery Thies, Addison Gaetano and Gabie Jones – each logged 110 minutes.
 
Louisiana will close out the regular-season with a pair of matches beginning Thursday at Appalachian State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., CT with the contest streamed live on ESPN�. The Ragin’ Cajuns will then close out the regular-season on Sunday (Oct. 24) at home against ULM in a 3 p.m. match.
 
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