Soccer: Freshmen Lead Ragin’ Cajuns Past Chanticleers, 3-0

Louisiana reaches semifinal for second straight year; will face South Alabama on Friday

FOLEY, Ala. – The freshman trio of Hailey Hoffmann, Mya Smith and Alyssa Abbott each accounted for goals while the freshman duo of Lauryn Starwood and Carly Dean combined to post a school-record ninth shutout of the season as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Soccer team recorded a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Wednesday at the Foley Sports Complex.

Louisiana (9-4-1), which advanced to the SBC semifinals for the second consecutive year, will meet defending SBC champion South Alabama (8-3-1) in a 4 p.m. contest on Friday. The Jaguars advanced after defeating Little Rock on penalty kicks, 4-3.

Playing Coastal Carolina (6-5) for the first time in postseason play, Louisiana struck in the 31^st minute as Gwen Mummert’s direct kick into the box was headed in by Hoffmann past Chanticleer goalkeeper Ky Hudson.

Louisiana padded its lead early in the 53^rd minute when Mya Smith took a deep crossing pass from Grace Champagne and scored past Hudson for her first career goal and giving the Ragin’ Cajuns a 2-0 lead.

Abbott, who recorded a game-winning goal against South Alabama when the teams last played in Foley on Sept. 6, helped seal the win for Louisiana as she flicked a shot past Hudson for her second goal of the year. The goal was set up by a well-spaced crossing pass from Rachel Sutter into the box that was deflected off freshman teammate Demi McCalliog with Abbott cleaning up with a shot into the left corner of the goal.

Starwood stopped eight shots in 78 minutes for Louisiana before being relieved by Dean over the final 12 minutes. The duo faced a 15-shot attack by Coastal Carolina and kept the Chanticleers off the board as Louisiana eclipsed its previous record for shutouts in a season (8) set last year while recording its 17^th shutout under head coach Lance Key.

Mackenzie Gibbs took four shots to lead Coastal Carolina with Kamryn Nobles adding three. Hudson recorded a pair of saves for the Chanticleers, who faced 10 shots by Louisiana.