Colonel soccer drops hard-fought game to Conference rival McNeese

Although Nicholls was unable to pull out a victory against leading Southland Conference
opponent McNeese State University, the Colonels played a tough game against what head coach
Mac McBride called the “conference champions elect”. Nicholls lost by a score of 2-0, dropping
to 5-8 on the season and 2-4 in conference.

Most of the first half was played in the midfield, with the Colonels and Cowgirls going
back and forth at each other. Nicholls had a couple of chances, including a chance near the goal
by midfielder Francesca Curteis. McNeese broke through in the 39 th with a goal from the top of
the box to make the score 1-0 heading into halftime. On the half, McNeese outshot the Colonels
ten to 2.

“I thought we had an overall good defensive shape and it just came down to
communication,” said right defensive back Blaire Laiche. “Sometimes we were hesitant and we
didn’t communicate well enough, that’s all it was.”

The second half emulated the first half with both teams playing mostly in the midfield. It
was McNeese who broke through again with a 57 th minute goal to put the score at 2-0. This
proved to be the last goal of the game. While the Colonels had chances, they were unable to find
the back of the net.

On the game, Nicholls was outshot 16 to four and seven to two in shots on goal. Curteis
lead the team in shots and shots on goals with two apiece. Goalkeeper Roosa Hurmerinta played
the full game and recorded five saves.

Nicholls coaches and players, while upset at the loss, were proud of the way the team
performed and said it gave them optimism for the rest of the season. Laiche said, “I think at least
competing with them and showing we can compete with teams like that gives us a little oomph
and lets other teams know not to underestimate Nicholls.”

“We had two lapses of concentration really. Mental focus, when things aren’t quite going
right and when things are going right, it’s such a fine line between teams. They came in here
unbelievably confident, 5-1 in conference now and scoring plenty of goals. They are a potent
threat,” said McBride.

“I just think mentally we switched off a bit, but that’s going to happen sometimes. The
thing is we didn’t capitulate, we didn’t let more goals in and we even created a couple of chances
at the end that could have made it interesting. That’s the sport. Overall, we had a decent
performance against a talented team.”

Weekend Statistics (vs. McNeese):

#10 Curteis, Francesca: 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
#26 Shelby, Jessica: one shot
#32 Elvestad, Mie: one shot
#44 Hurmerinta, Roosa: 5 saves, 2 goals allowed