Lady Colonels Battle Hard In Setback As a cool breeze swept across the soccer field Friday bringing in the distinctive smell of burning sugarcane, the Lady Colonel soccer team battled hard, falling to Southland conference regular season champion Southwest Texas 1-0.
Southwest Texas’ Kendra Kade scored the game’s only goal, taking a feed from Reta Derouin in the 7th minute. Lady Bobcat goalkeeper Tiffany Unrah recorded three saves while NSU freshman Lindsay Bartlett stopped nine balls. Junior Candice O’Meallie and Brooke Heffler each attempted two shots for the Lady Colonels as SWT attempted 19 shots to Nicholls State’s five.
“I’ve seen so much improvement from these young ladies,” said coach Jim Zakel. “They have been able to close all of the gaps that were in this program at the beginning of the season. We currently are left with only twelve healthy players. We’ve come a long way.”
After the game, the Lady Colonels gathered to present captain Tracy Passafiume with a photo memorandum from the entire team. Passafiume then gathered with her team in tears to take some of their last pictures together as a team.
Lady Colonels Close Out 2001
The Lady Colonels saw its season come to an end on Monday, falling to Stephen F. Austin 1-0 in Southland Conference womens soccer action. This was a make-up game after it was cancelled on Oct.13 due to inclimate weather. This game marked the final game for senior defender Tracy Passafiume.
Stephen F. Austin’s Sarah Johnson provided the only scoring, taking a feed from Kendra Cannon in the 25th minute. Nicholls State goalkeeper Lindsay Bartlett recorded three saves while her counterpart from Texas Elizabeth Evatt made six. SFA outshot their hosts 7-6 as freshman Melissa Bonneau attempted three NSU shots, and Sabrina Bledsoe took two.
While the season is completed, the future looks bright for Nicholls State as the team set records for the most wins in a season (three), most goals scored in a season (12), and fewest goals allowed in a season (48). Some 17 lettereinners are slated to return next year in addition to sophomore Kim Robinson, the teams leading scorer in 2000, who sat out this season, and Hannah Jones a highly-touted junior college recruit who m issed this season as well.
