Although the Colonels didn’t have the type of season head soccer coach Jim Zakel wanted, the last two games summed up not only the team’s season, but also the team’s potential.
In the second to last game of the season, which was played at John L. Guidry Stadium on last Wednesday, the Colonels played perhaps their best game of the season en route to shocking the visiting Louisiana State University Tigers 2-1.
Some fans said that playing at night in primetime in front of 545 screaming fans gave the Colonels momentum that helped in the win.
“It’s a big night for Nicholls soccer,” senior Oil and Petroleum Services student Corey Drayton said, “I know the administration tries to do as much as possible with sports, but it’s unfortunate, for a long time they have been fighting to play in the stadium, you can see how much it really makes sense to play in the stadium because they have triple the amount of fans that they would normally have at the soccer field.”
“People are supporting, and they are real hyped up, I think this is a new Nicholls team; I think the coach is really doing a good job. It really helps playing in the stadium, and it’s unfortunate the politics that are playing out where they can’t play here all the time,” Drayton said.
In the game against LSU, it was Samantha Bledsoe’s two goal performance that helped the Colonels pull off the shocking upset. Also goalie Lindsay Bartlett, stepped up to the challenge and almost shutout the Tigers, but with less than one minute in the game, LSU managed a goal when Stephanie Keating scored on a penalty kick.
In the game, the Tigers out-shot the Colonels 35 to eight, but 17 saves by Bartlett and a few by the goalpost help the Colonels manage a near shutout.
With the outstanding game against LSU over, the Colonels lost to the Lions of Southeastern University 3-0 two days later at Lady Colonel’s soccer field with less than 75 fans in attendance.
Fans thought that the game against the Lions didn’t represent what the Colonels were capable of doing.
“Something that I have always said when I come out and watch their home games is I think their record isn’t always indicative of what kind of team they are. They play pretty hard, they’re real dedicated, they just had some real tough breaks this year. I think they proved it the other night against LSU,” Tex Martin, sports science senior said. “I think they got a real young team, and in the next couple of years look for them to be one of the better teams in the conference.”
In the last game of the season, the Lions simply out-played the Colonels en route to a shutout. The Lions’ Kim McNally led Southeastern, performing a hat trick by scoring all three of her team’s goals.
The loss didn’t stop some younger Colonel players from having high hopes about next season however.
“It was a progressive season, because we got better and better, and we came together at the end for our biggest game of the season, which was LSU,” freshman middle fielder Cathy Sanchez said.
When asked to sum up the season head coach Zakel said, “The LSU game showed what we’re capable of. We’ve just been real inconsistent, and that is the frustrating thing.”
Zakel also said that although it will be hard losing his group of seniors, this team was young and improving, so look for the younger players to gain experience and play well in the spring.