Soccer: Louisiana Blanks Nicholls In Home Finale For 10th Win

Ragin’ Cajuns head to College Station to face 12th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday

LAFAYETTE – Lizzie Mayfield opened up a second-half surge for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Soccer team with a goal in the 51^st minute before adding an assist in the 82^nd in a 3-0 victory over in-state foe Nicholls on Thursday at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility.
 
Hailey Daigle and Karleen Bedre each scored insurance goals in the final 10 minutes as Louisiana (10-7-1) reached the 10-win mark for the second time in school history and first since posting 10 wins in 2010.
 
Lauryn Starwood stopped a pair of shots in posting a clean sheet for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who had dropped their last three matches since a 3-0 win over Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Nov. 4, 2020.
 
Mayfield added her team-high sixth goal of the season in the 51^st minute when she took a pass from Rachel Sutter and scored past Nicholls goalkeeper Reagan Carter for a 1-0 lead.
 
Louisiana, which held a 20-7 advantage in shots with 14 coming in the second half, added its second goal in the 81^st minute when Daigle, a hometown product who prepped at Acadiana High, fired off a shot from just inside the 18-yard box and found the back of the net for her first career goal.
 
Mayfield set up Louisiana’s final goal just over a minute later when she fed Bedre with a pass down the left sideline and the sophomore finished it off with a left-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box and into the lower right corner of the net for a 3-0 cushion.
 
Mayfield attempted a match-high four shots for Louisiana, which placed a combined eight shots on goal. Sutter and Mya Smith each fired off three shots for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Daigle, Bedre, Alyssa Abbott and Alex Augustyn each attempting two.
 
Nicholls (0-11-0) attempted four of its seven shots in the first half with Alicia Carlos leading the Colonels with two attempts. Carter collected five saves for the Colonels, who were opening a three-match road trip.
 
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday when it travels to College Station, Texas to face No. 12-ranked Texas A&M at 7 p.m. The match will be available on SEC Network Plus with live results available at RaginCajuns.com.