The Colonel soccer team continued its impressive start to the 2010 season with a pair of wins last week over Jackson State and an overtime thriller at the University of Louisiana Monroe.With the victories, Nicholls keeps its perfect season alive and moves their record to 4-0-1.
Senior forward Kaity Mattsson continued her hot streak after scoring her eighth goal of the season six minutes into overtime to propel the Colonels to victory over ULM.
“For us to come home, turn around Saturday and travel up to Monroe for a long trip and be ready to play on Sunday was good,” head coach Dylan Harrison said. “It’s something we have never seen out of our group of girls, it was a great sign to not only be ready to play but also pull out the win in the way we did.”
Since the beginning of the program in 1998, no Colonel soccer team has gone undefeated through the first five games of the year. The Colonels have already tied their win record from last year. With just one more victory, they would surpass the school’s single season wins record.
“I think the biggest change is the attitude,” Harrison said about the difference between the way the team prepares for games this year compared to last year.
“The attitude of if we work hard here, we’re going to believe that we are capable when we get out on the field,” Harrison said. “It’s not us getting to the game and hoping to compete, its us getting to a game and expecting to win.”
One of the more impressive facts about the start of this season is that every game has been played away from home, Harrison said.
“At an away game we can control a lot of the variables,” Harrison said. “We know what time we get up, we eat as a team, study as a team and prepare as a team.”
The Colonels are outscoring their opponents 16 to 3 and outshooting them 96 to 34. Mattsson leads the team in scoring while eight other Colonels have found the back of the net so far this year.
On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt junior Molly Mersereau and junior Sarah Damen have combined for three shutouts. The duo has only given up three goals all season. With the two goals allowed against ULM, Mersereau ended her 270 minutes of scoreless action.
Nicholls still has a few more games before Southland Conference play begins on Oct. 1 at Lamar, but finds itself at or near the top of many team and individual conference statistics. They rank second in goals and assists behind Texasª-San Antonio and second behind Southeastern Louisiana in shutouts.
Mattsson is either first or second in every offensive category except assists. Junior Carolyn Noble ranks fourth in assists and assists per game, while Mersereau and Damen are in the top five in shutouts.
As conference play nears, the Colonels look to continue the success they have had on the road at home.
“The biggest thing about a home game is having your peers, fellow athletes and faculty out supporting you, so that helps to pick you back up,” Harrison said.
The first conference home game is Oct. 10 against instate rival Southeastern Louisiana.
