The Lady Colonels soccer team was defeated in their two tournament games at the Grambling State Soccer Tournament this past weekend.On Sunday, the final day of tournament play, the Lady Colonels fell to Centenary by a 3-2 count. Senior midfielder Lynn Simmons and Tori Priddy, a junior midfielder, each scored goals for the Lady Colonels while the game-winning goal came from Centenary’s Rebecca Swilley.
On Friday afternoon, the Lady Colonels fell to the Lady Tigers of Grambling 2-1. The Lady Colonels’ Kim Robinson, a senior forward, scored the lone goal with under four minutes left in the game.
Head soccer coach Cindy Piper believes that her team did not play well partly because of Grambling’s defensive scheme.
“We didn’t play very well at all,” Piper said. “Some of it was due to Grambling. They played a real compact defense. Our team never adapted and changed the way they played. They kept trying to play kick ball with them (Grambling).”
In the Sunday afternoon game with Centenary, Simmons scored a goal her first in the 24th minute of the 1st half, putting Nicholls State (0-4) ahead 1-0. Centenary (3-0) responded at the 37:35 mark of the opening half when midfielder Mindi Levinski netted a goal via a penalty kick to tie the score at one.
According to Piper, her team played well against Centenary.
“On Sunday our team played the best we’ve ever played,” Piper said. “We finally played our style of soccer. We spread out the field and kept the ball on the ground.”
Priddy helped the Lady Colonels get ahead 2-1 in the second half when she found the net on a penalty kick in the 77th minute. However, Centenary responded one minute later when midfielder Samantha Savage scored a goal off an assist from fellow midfielder Rita Coolidge, tying the game at two.
Less than a minute into overtime, Centenary forward Rebecca Swilley scored the deciding goal aided by an assist from forward Tara Sageser.
Piper stated that that the team needs to work on staying focused after scoring to prevent the opposition from retaliating.
“I think we put a little pressure on them,” Piper said. “We have things to work on. Obviously right after we scored our goal, especially the second one, they came back a minute and a half later and scored on us. I was telling the kids we need to work on our mental state, making sure we stay focused and not letting them come back and score.”
The Grambling game was a scoreless duel until the latter part of the second half, which saw Grambling put on an offensive display, scoring two goals in three minutes.
In the 77th minute, Lady Tiger midfielder Brittany Dorsey scored the first goal of the game by way of a penalty kick. Grambling struck again just before the 81st minute when freshman defender Kari Davis found the goal on a breakaway shot from the left wing.
Robinson scored the only goal for the Lady Colonels at the 86:31 mark for the final score, 2-1, in favor of Grambling.
For the game, Lady Colonels goalie Lindsay Bartlett had seven saves. However, the Lady Tigers out shot the Lady Colonels 13-6.
The Lady Colonels will return to action on Friday when they make the trek to Jackson State in Jackson, Miss., where they will do battle with the Jackson State Lady Tigers. Following the Jackson State game, the Lady Colonels will host the University of Mobile in their home opener at the Lady Colonels soccer field next Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m.
