Soccer: Cajuns Finish Second in SBC After Scoreless Tie with Troy
Nick Ross, October 27, 2013
Contact: Nick Ross
Conference Championship Bracket
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns played to a scoreless tie with the Troy Trojans on Sunday at the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer Facility, to finish the season 8-6-3 and 5-2-1 in Sun Belt play, and a tie for second in the final standings.
"They girls played a very good and complete soccer match," head coach Scot Wieland said after the match. "We had our chances to score. It was hard fought battle on both sides and we just didn’t get the ball in the net. I am proud of our team effort though."
The Ragin’ Cajuns had the opportunity to hold a share of the conference title had they won, but the tie places them in another tie, this one with South Alabama for second in the conference. They will go into the conference tournament as the third seed, losing in the head-to-head tiebreaker with South Alabama.
"This will carry us into the conference tournament well," Wieland added. "Thankfully, unlike last season, it isn’t over today. I’ve said from day one that it is a progression, and our players have continued to progress and have earned to be here."
It is the highest seed in school history for Louisiana.
The Cajuns will face Arkansas State in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday, November 6 at 1 p.m. The tournament takes place in San Marcos, Texas, hosted by Texas State University.
The Trojans came out fast in the match, taking five shots with two coming on net in the first 15 minutes of play. Sophomore goalkeeper Cory DeMarco would come up on all of them, and finish the first half with three saves, facing eight total shots preserving a 0-0 tie.
The Cajuns would up the pressure in the second half by a large margin. After getting just seven shots and two on goal in the first half, they took 12 shots in the second with five coming on goal. The Cajuns would have a few big scoring opportunities in the waning minutes, but the biggest highlight of the game came on defense.
Troy’s Louise Cheng got a forward pass for a breakaway in the 85th minute and fired a shot from about six yards out. Senior goalkeeper Kendall Graham got a piece of the shot and deflected it over the net for a corner kick.
Troy’s onslaught didn’t end there. On the ensuing corner kick, senior Shelby Isley got a head on a ball that was sent to a wide open net, and the rebound shot was stopped by Graham to maintain the clean sheet.
It was all Cajuns in the first 10 minutes of overtime. They took six shots, including three on net, and were the benefactors of five corner kicks, but Troy’s Madison Winter continued to come up big, keeping it scoreless.
The final buzzer would sound with a 0-0 score.
Kendall Graham was the goalkeeper of record, after playing the majority of the overtime match, improving to 1-3-3 on the season.
"I thought both keepers played great," Wieland said. "I also though that our defense played very well. They were very composed, kept the ball on the ground and they played a very good, composed and disciplined game."
The Cajuns held the advantage in shots, outshooting Troy 25-15 and 15-8 in shots on target. Freshmen Annika Schmidt and Yazmin Montoya led the team with seven and six shots, respectively, with Schmidt hitting the goal four times and Montoya once.
It was Senior Day for the Cajuns, with three student athletes honored before the match. Seniors Shelby Isley, Kendall Graham and Lacey Leitz all played their final match at home, and will attempt to lengthen their careers at the conference tournament. Also honored before the match was senior equipment manager Kelly Junot, a five-year veteran of the soccer team at Louisiana.
The Cajuns will have a week and a half before their next match, when they open conference play for the first time since 2010, against Arkansas State at 1 p.m. in San Marcos, Texas.
