Colonel soccer hits the road again for two conference matchups

After a two-game home stand in which the Colonels went 1-1 against Conference
opponents, Nicholls will hit the road this weekend. The team will travel to Texas to face two
Southland Conference opponents, Houston Baptist University on Friday and Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi on Sunday.

Going into this weekend’s matches, Nicholls currently sits at 4-6 on the season. The team
is 1-2 in Conference play, good for three conference points. Midfielders Haylee Atwell and
Emily Werenskiold lead the team on the season with three goals scored a piece. Goalkeeper
Taylor Benoit has recorded 42 saves through five starts with an average of around eight saves per
game.

Houston Baptist University comes into Friday’s match with a 3-4- 1 overall record and a
2-1 Conference record. The Huskies are currently riding a two game winning streak and have six
points in conference play. The Colonels have struggled with this team in past matchups, going 1-
3 in the past four meetings between these two teams. Nicholls fell in last year’s match by a score
of 2-1.

“With Houston Baptist, they made the NCAA tournament last year so they’re going to be
a good team. They’re a very athletic team and have had good results lately against Stephen F.
Austin and Sam Houston State. They’re going to be a tough athletic team,” said assistant coach
Danny Free.

Sunday’s opponent, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, currently has a 4-4- 1 season record and
a 1-2 Conference record and are currently on a two game losing streak. Nicholls has found recent
success against this team, winning the past four meetings, including a 2-1 victory last year.

“With Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, they have new coaches and have had a couple of
good results this year,” said Free. “So it’s going to be two very tough road games for sure.”

Head coach Mac McBride pointed out that a change in playing surface may prove
problematic for the Colonels, saying, “Texas A&M-Corpus Christi plays on turf, which we
haven’t had an opportunity to practice on.”

While Conference road games are a daunting task for any team, the Colonels will lean on
what they learned during their six-game road trip earlier on in the season to assist them in this
weekend’s matches.

“Almost the whole start of our season felt like away games, so I think we know the
routine and feel more prepared,” said Texas native, freshman midfielder Hannah Bodron. “I
think that’ll help us a lot, we’re more used to it now. I think we’ll be ok.”