Lady Cajuns Soccer 2006

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LITTLE ROCK-Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team down Arkansas-Little Rock in overtime by a score of 3-2, Friday night in Little Rock. The victory marked the first time since Oct. 17, 2004 that the Cajuns claimed an overtime victory. Ironically, UL’s last overtime win came in Little Rock, as the Cajuns downed the Trojans 2-1 in double overtime. Callie Oliver scored the “golden goal” for the Cajuns as she netted her second goal of the season. The goal was Oliver’s second match-winning goal of the season. She scored the first goal of a 2-0 victory over Northwestern State on Sept. 1. The Cajuns scratched the scoreboard first on the night. Lindsay Webb netted her third goal of the season to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 1-0 lead. Webb’s goal came in the 28th minute of the match from about 25 yards in front of the goal. Arkansas-Little Rock evened the score just before that half and the teams entered the intermission deadlocked at 1-1. The Trojans broke the tie in the second half as Hannah Gibson scored in the top half of the goal to give UALR a 2-1 advantage with 25-minutes to play. With 15-minutes remaining in regulation, Stephanie Lynch scored on a free kick to tie the score at 2-2. The two teams fought hard and at the end of regulation the score was deadlocked. In the eighth minute of overtime, Oliver managed to score off of a deflected shot by Taylor Zak. “We played hard,” head coach Scot Wieland said of his team’s effort. “This overtime win…we needed it for their confidence. After last weekend [falling to Denver and North Texas], this was a big win and with our struggles in overtime, we needed it. “We have been telling these girls to follow their shots,” Wieland added. “And they executed and it worked out for us tonight.” The Cajuns outshot the Trojans 17-to-10 on the evening. Lynch led the Cajuns with five shots, including a team high four shots on goal. The Ragin’ Cajuns return to action on Sunday, Oct. 1, as they take on Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark. at 1 p.m. LOUISIANA SI

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JONESBORO, Ark.-For the second match in a row, Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team needed extra time to earn a win. After downing Arkansas-Little Rock, 3-2, in overtime on Friday night, the Cajuns defeated Arkansas State 2-1 in overtime on Sunday afternoon for their second Sun Belt Conference win of the season. The win improves the Cajuns to 5-5-2 on the season and 2-2-0 in conference play. The five wins for the Cajuns surpasses their win total from last season, and two conference wins ties the Ragin’ Cajuns 2005 total. The overtime match was the fifth for the Cajuns this season. UL is currently 2-1-2 this season when a match goes to an extra period. The Lady Cajuns are 2-2-5 under second year head coach Scot Wieland in overtime. The Cajuns Emily Black scored her second goal of the season to give UL a 1-0 lead in the first half. The Indians tied the score and the two teams entered halftime knotted at 1-1. Neither team was able to score in the second half despite numerous chances for the Cajuns. Freshman Courtney Hofland scored the golden goal in overtime to give the Ragin’ Cajuns their second overtime win in as many matches. The goal was Hofland’s third of the season and her first match winning goal of her career. Three goals ties Stephanie Lynch and Lindsay Webb for the team lead on the season. The Cajuns’ Taunya Geelhoed was credited with both assists for UL. They were the first two assists of her career and the first time in two years that a Cajuns player had multiple assists in one match. The last UL player with a pair of assists in a match was Mette Olesen against Florida International on Oct. 10, 2004. Lauren Schwindt was the last Cajuns player to accomplish this feat in a road match. She recorded two assists on Sept. 3, 2003 in Thibodaux, La., against Nicholls State. The Ragin’ Cajuns return home to Lafayette on Friday, Oct. 6, to take on Florida Atlantic. The match is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. UL will continue the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 8 as they take on Florida International at noon. LOUISIANA SI

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Courtney Hofland scored with 31-seconds remaining in the match to give UL a 2-1 win. LOUISIANA La. - Trailing by one with under a minute to go, freshman Courtney Hofland scored a goal to give Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team a dramatic 2-1 victory over Florida Atlantic. Hofland broke free of a pack of soccer players in the middle field and headed towards the goal. With just 31-seconds left on the clock, Hofland was able to get past the charging goalie and score the match-winning goal. “I’m really happy the ball went in,” Hofland said of her goal. “I thought we played really well tonight and I am happy I was able to help the team win and continue our winning streak.” The goal was the freshman’s fourth goal of the season and helped the Cajuns to their sixth win of the season and their third conference victory of the year. The Cajuns are currently on a three match winning streak in the Sun Belt Conference. The three-match conference winning streak ties a school record set in 2004. “I think we are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” head coach Scot Wieland commented of his team. “Tonight’s match was probably the first ime I have seen our team come out and from start to finish play hard and play with confidence. “Courtney’s goal at the end of the match was huge,” Wieland added. “We needed this win to help boost our confidence and hopefully we can take this momentum into the match on Sunday and throughout the remainder of the eason.” The Ragin’ Cajuns scratched the scoreboard first as Heather Ulliman scored her second goal of the season to give the Cajuns the early advantage. Erika Saffer drove the ball into the box and passed to Ulliman who snuck the ball past the FAU goalie to give the Cajuns the lead. The Cajuns managed to keep FAU scoreless in the first half and enter intermission with a 1-0 lead. The Owls tied the score early in the second half as Cristina Rodriguez scored with only one minute gone in the second half. The score remained tied at 1-1 until the final minute of the match when Hofland scored her match-winner. Both teams battled hard in the second half taking nearly 10 shots each – eight for FAU and nine for UL. The Cajuns’ Stephanie Weston recorded eight saves on the night, allowing just one goal. She earned her sixth victory of the season, tying Liz Preseault for the second most wins in a season. She trails fellow teammate Kristen Malen, who has the record (7). The win moves Weston into first place on the career wins list with 10. The Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team will return to the Cajuns Track/Soccer Facility on Sunday afternoon as they take on the Florida International Golden Panthers. Kickoff for the match is set for 12 noon. LOUISIANA SI

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UL’s soccer team has brought a new definition to the term “drama queens.” Good thing, since “Cardiac Cajuns” gets overused. Each could describe the Cajun squad, though, after its last three matches — three wins that have put UL right in the thick of the Sun Belt Conference race. Friday night, the Cajuns snapped a 1-1 tie with Florida Atlantic in the final minute, with Lafayette freshman Courtney Hofland scoring on a solo breakaway and giving UL a 2-1 victory. Last weekend, UL decided that overtime was the best way to go, going into extra time in back-to-back wins over Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State. Three matches, three one-goal wins, all of them nail-biters for second-year coach Scot Wieland. “We are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Wieland said. “Friday’s match was probably the first time I’ve seen our team come out and from start to finish play hard and play with confidence.” The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Before Sunday afternoon, UL's soccer team had never won four straight Sun Belt Conference matches. The Ragin' Cajuns also had never won as many as four league matches in a single season. Both those marks came tumbling down Sunday thanks to a pair of mid-first-half goals, and the Cajuns never looked back in taking a 3-1 victory over Florida International at the UL Track/Soccer Facility. The win gives the Cajuns (7-5-2 overall, 4-2 Sun Belt) four league wins over the past two weekends, following a 2-1 home win over Florida Atlantic on Friday. The old school record both for consecutive league victories and conference wins in a season was three, with UL getting three Sun Belt wins in 2001, 2002 and 2004 including three in a row in the 2004 season. The seven wins also matches UL's best-ever win total, one set in 2004 when the Cajuns finished with a 7-10-2 mark. The rest of the story

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LAFAYETTE - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns needed overtime to escape Sunday’s Sun Belt Conference match with Troy with a victory. UL scored a goal in the first minute of overtime to record their school record eighth win of the season. Lindsay Webb scored the golden goal for the Ragin’ Cajuns. She scored on a deflected ball off of a Courtney Hofland shot that bounced off of the crossbar. Webb’s goal was her fourth of the season – a career high – and her first match-winning goal of her career. Hofland was credited with her fifth assist of the season. At goal for the Cajuns was Stephanie Weston. The sophomore recorded four saves en route to her fifth shutout of the year. Weston now has eight victories on the season, moving her into sole possession of first place for wins in a season, passing fellow Cajuns goalie Kristen Malen. Despite having 22 shots on the day, the Cajuns were unable to put the ball in the net, sending most of their shots high or wide on the day. UL recorded five shots on goal, but were unable to score until overtime. The Cajuns and Trojans entered halftime knotted up at 0-0. Louisiana was unable to score in the first half despite taking 11 shots with three shots on goal. The Ragin’ Cajuns controlled the ball most of the first half, not allowing Troy to advance the ball past midfield more than a handful of times. UL returns to action on Friday, Oct. 27 for their final match of the year. The Cajuns will play in-state and conference foe Louisiana-Monroe. The Ragin’ Cajuns will honor their two seniors 15-minutes before the match begins. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. LOUISIANA SI

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UL's soccer team didn't want a second Sun Belt Conference stalemate in as many matches, but it certainly looked like that was happening Sunday against Troy's Trojans. That was before Courtney Hofland bounced a shot off the Troy crossbar 48 seconds into overtime, and senior Lindsay Webb pounded the rebound past Trojan goalkeeper Jennifer Currie to provide a 1-0 victory at the UL Track/Soccer Facility. The Cajuns (8-7-3, 5-4-1 Sun Belt) had battled to a 2-2 tie Friday against South Alabama, rallying from a 2-0 deficit, and looked to be on their way to another draw with both defenses pitching shutouts through 90 minutes of regulation Sunday. Webb tallied her career-high fourth goal of the season and also posted the first match-winning goal of her career. Acadiana High product Hofland, a freshman who had one of the two goals Friday in the comeback against USA, posted her fifth assist of the year. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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UL's soccer team plays its final regular-season match - but not its final home outing - tonight when the Ragin' Cajuns face state and Sun Belt Conference rival UL Monroe. The 7 p.m. match at the UL Track/Soccer Facility will give the Cajuns (8-7-3, 5-4-1) a final tune-up before the Sun Belt Tournament, scheduled next Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 1-4, at the UL field. The teams with the eight best records in the 12-team league qualify for the tournament. ULM (5-13-1, 1-9 Sun Belt) has been eliminated from that field and will wrap up its season tonight. No admission will be charged for tonight's match as part of UL's Homecoming activities. The rest of the story

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UL's soccer team is a definite dark-horse pick this week at the Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament, but not as dark a pick as in previous years. The Cajuns welcome the league's other seven top teams for the single-elimination tournament that begins today at the UL Track/Soccer Facility. Four first-round games are scheduled today beginning at 10 a.m., with the host and sixth-seeded Cajuns meeting third seed North Texas in today's 7 p.m. finale. Most conference observers are expecting a 1 p.m. Saturday finals pairing matching top-seeded Denver (11-0) and second seed Middle Tennessee (10-1), but UL coach Scot Wieland wouldn't be surprised if the bracket included some upsets - especially involving his team. "This is sudden death for everybody now," Wieland said. "We're all starting on an even plane and records don't mean anything." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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The rain that started falling about 45 minutes before match time was probably a bad omen for UL’s soccer team. The Cajuns were going to have enough trouble keeping up with North Texas’ highly-talented Mean Green, before the UL Track/Soccer Facility pitch became less turf and more slip-and-slide. But it probably wouldn’t have mattered. North Texas’ 5-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament showed the difference in an experienced tournament team and a Cajun squad that, although much improved over last season, still isn’t quite ready to stay with the league’s best in a sudden-death format. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com