Soccer: Cajun Come Up Short in SBC Tournament, Fall 2-1 to ASU

Nick Ross, November 6, 2013

Contact: Nick Ross
 
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns soccer team fell short by mere seconds in the Sun Belt Conference Championships opener against Arkansas State, losing 2-1 on Wednesday in San Marcos, Texas.
 
Coming into the game, neither of the two teams had won a Sun Belt Conference Tournament match.
 
Freshman Yazmin Montoya scored the Cajuns’ lone goal off of a penalty kick, her 13th of the season and second off of a penalty kick.
 
The Red Wolves took the lead in the first half, scoring off a corner kick play in the 20th minute of the contest.  Madison Joyce found a rebound off the play and sent it off the crossbar and down over the goal line to beat Cory DeMarco.
 
The Cajuns would come out fast after the halftime break, putting pressure on the Arkansas State goal.  The pressure caused them to foul in the box leading to a penalty kick.
 
Montoya took the penalty kick for the Cajuns and buried it in the bottom right corner of the net, scoring her 13th goal of the season.
 
With overtime on the horizon, the Red Wolves would get the game winner in the 87th minute when Loren Mitchell knocked a rebound past Kendall Graham.   Graham made the initial save, but the rebound found the foot of Mitchell.
 
The Cajuns didn’t give up, keeping relentless pressure on the Arkansas State end.  With the final seconds counting down, Montoya sent a ball towards the net, which was headed by a Ragin’ Cajuns forward and past the Arkansas State keeper and into the net, but was a second too late.
 
As they have for a majority of the season, the Cajuns switched goalkeepers at half.  DeMarco was the starting keeper, allowing a goal on six shots, and made four saves.  Graham was the keeper of record, and is now 1-4-3 on the season.  She made three saves and allowed one goal in 45 minutes.
 
The Red Wolves will advance to play no. 2 South Alabama tomorrow in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships.
 
The loss ends the season for the Cajuns, who went into the tournament as their highest seed in school history.  They will graduate three seniors in forward Shelby Isley, midfielder Lacey Leitz and goalkeeper Kendall Graham.