Soccer plays final regular season game

The Nicholls State University women’s soccer team plays its final game of the 2018 season on the road against the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions Friday at 7 p.m.

Redshirt senior midfielder Alison Ward said the team’s matchup with the Lions will be memorable since it is her final match as a Colonel.

“We just want to go out there and do what we have been doing,” Ward said. “Play with our hearts and try to win and end on a good note as a team. I just want to go out there and give it everything I have and leave it all on the field since it is my last game ever.”

The Colonels (3-14, 1-9 SLC) do not qualify for the postseason, so the final game will be simply about bragging rights.

Senior midfielder Francesca Curteis said beating the Lions would be a terrific feat.

“Well, we can’t make conference anymore, so it’s only about beating Southeastern,” Curteis said. “We kind of always have had that rival with Southeastern, so to beat them would be great. We have lost to them the last 3 years. [It is] just about playing well, so that we can be proud of ourselves at the end of the game. We don’t want to go on the field and lose and play bad.”

Head coach Mac McBride said the Colonels could play spoiler and knock the Lions out of the conference tournament with a victory Friday.

“It is a team that has kept us out of postseason for the last three years,” McBride said. “So now it’s our chance to be a spoiler, since we can keep them out of the tournament this year. It is good opportunity for us to maybe get a little bit more time for players that are new to the program that might not have seen quite so many minutes in the conference games. It’s nice to give them that experience. We will make the most of it.”

Mcbride said it will be interesting to see how the players adjust, since they have nothing to lose against the Lions.

“Psychologically it’s interesting. I think that the last three times we played Southeastern there has been so much pressure on the game, and I think that did not necessarily help some of the players. It is going to be interesting to see how they adapt to a different kind of scenario.”

Mcbride said it is important not to focus too much on the emotional aspect of the last game for the seniors, since the team has much to look forward to in the future.

Ward will be graduating this December from Nicholls, but she said she will be involved with Thibodaux.

“I got a coaching job at ED White, so I’m going to be coaching the 8th graders boys’ team, so soccer is still gonna be around for me for a while.”