Despite the cold temperatures and whistling wind embarking on the Lady Colonels Soccer field last Saturday afternoon, the Nicholls Lacrosse club used a stingy defense and an overwhelming offense to slam Centenary College of Louisiana 10-3.
The victory was enough to give Nicholls (1-0) its first victory of the season, and the ten points scored was the most in Lacrosse club history.
“I am just so happy that this program has done so well. The guys came up to me afterward and said, ‘We really played like a team today,'” Billy Tauzin, head lacrosse coach, said.
“I am so happy we jelled so fast, and I hope we keep it going as we get ready for our next match.”
Despite being their first game of the season, Centenary coach Scott Langford said he was happy with his teams performance.
“We had a great time and it was a great season opener for us. Maybe next year we will be able to come and beat Nicholls,” Langford said.
Early in the match, Nicholls benefited off of four quick goals to put Centenary (0-1) in a big hole before halftime.
Jonathan Nobile, who scored four goals and scooped up four ground balls, led Nicholls offensively. Jason Smith scored three goals with nine ground balls one assist.
Dustin Scheutter scored twice with six ground balls, and Jacob Degate scored once. For the contest, Nicholls had 34 shots on the goal.
“We wanted to come out and get off to a fast start, so in the second half we could just control the ball and run the clock out,” Jason Smith, said.
“If we could just run them down and wear them out, we had a good shot at winning.”
Tauzin said Nobile and Smith played huge roles in Nicholls’ victory against Centenary.
“Smith is just tough, hits hard, makes the attack and gets a lot of ground balls for us. Nobile could do a lot of things with his Lacrosse stick that a lot of guys can’t do,” Tauzin said.
“They are always helping me coach everyday. When they score, it excites the entire team and it makes the other guys want to get in and score to.”
Nicholls defense held Centenary to only 17 shots during the game. Centenary’s Robert Schaumburg scored two goals for Centenary.
Goaltender Jack Plessala played a huge role in the Nicholls victory by holding Centenary to just three points.
“Jack was just jumping, diving and making big saves whenever we needed him,” Tauzin said.
“For a big guy, he has such great reflexes.”
Although Plessala collected 14 saves for Nicholls, one of his saves backfired on him and ended up giving Centenary a free goal.
While leading 4-0 in the second quarter, Plessala accidentally knocked the ball into Centenary’s goal after making a save.
“I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was guilty conscious or just lack of focus. I just pulled it back and I think I just tried to throw it a little to far down the field, and it just fell back,” Plessala said.
“I tried to grab it before it crossed the line, but it was too late.”
Despite Plessala’s mistake, Tauzin said the defense did a great job shutting down Centenary.
“They just attacked these guys, and made it really hard for them to hold onto the ball,” Tauzin said.
“Our defense was great because they did a great job of containing them from outside the perimeter, and making it harder for them to shoot,” Plessala said.
Nicholls will now enjoy a week off before traveling to Houston, Texas to take on the University of Houston Feb. 2.
“We are probably going to rest up a little bit this week, and then we are going to work a bit more on offense. We didn’t do as many plays as I have like to, but we did a lot of isolations and just took it a little to much,” Tauzin said.
“I put in plays at the end of the week, and I would love to do the same before we take on Houston.”