Lady Cajuns Soccer 2003

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana to play host to 10 matches at Cajun Field in fourth season of competition

LOUISIANA La. - A school-record 10 home matches highlights the 2003 schedule for Louisiana's Lady Cajuns soccer program, released Wednesday by fourth-year head coach Dave Poggi.

The Cajuns, who will be playing their fourth season in program history, will be entering their second season at Louisiana's Cajun Field.

The slate features 10 regular season home matches along with an exhibition match scheduled for August 23 against Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m.

"It's taken us now four seasons to get a quality home schedule," said head coach Dave Poggi. "Now that we are on campus and have a stable home facility we are able to schedule more home matches. For some of our older players, they will probably play more home matches this season than they did in their first three seasons."

Louisiana will play eight Sun Belt Conference matches in the quest for its first SBC championship.

Louisiana will play five of its eight SBC matches within the friendly confines of Cajun Field.

The Cajuns have non-conference games against teams from the SEC and Conference USA along with its natural in-state rivals.

"We have a good balance of regional conference schools," Poggi said. "Obviously our conference schedule is going to be first priority, but playing teams such as LSU, Alabama and Southern Miss will help accustom us to the fierce battles we can expect once the Sun Belt schedule comes around."

A home match with Louisiana State on Sept. 19 and a road match at Alabama on Sept. 26 are a few of the non-conference highlights.

The Lady Cajuns fourth season in program history will begin in earnest on Friday, Aug. 29 at the LSU Tournament in Baton Rouge. Louisiana will face Jackson State in the opener and then close out the tournament against Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Aug. 31.

After a mid-week road match at Nicholls State on Wednesday, Sept. 3 the Cajuns will open their second season at Cajun Field on Sunday, Sept. 7 against Conference USA-member Southern Mississippi at 1 p.m.

The following week, on Sunday, Sept. 14, the Cajuns begin a stretch of three straight home matches against in-state foes. Louisiana will face off with UL Monroe (Sept. 14, 1 p.m.), LSU (Sept. 19, 7 p.m.) and McNeese State (Sept. 21, 1 p.m.).

After that homestand, the Cajuns will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a match with SEC-member Alabama on Friday, Sept. 26.

The Cajuns will kick off Sun Belt play the following Friday when South Alabama travels to Lafayette for a rematch of last season's 0-0 tie in Mobile.

The USA match will be followed by a Sunday afternoon matinee with Tulane at 1 p.m. It will mark the Green Wave's first-ever visit to Lafayette.

Other home SBC matches include a weekend against the Arkansas schools Oct. 17-19. Arkansas State provides the competition on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. while Arkansas-Little Rock meets the Cajuns on Sunday, Oct. 19.

Louisiana has never lost to the Arkansas teams in Lafayette and this will be the first meeting with each one at Cajun Field.

The Cajuns final two home matches will also be the final two matches of the season. Louisiana hosts Western Kentucky on Friday, Oct. 31 and closes out the season on Sunday, Nov. 2 with Middle Tennessee.

Road conference matches include Sunday, Oct. 12 at FIU and Friday, Oct. 24 at North Texas along with a Sunday, Oct. 26 match at defending conference champion Denver.

Of the 19 scheduled regular season matches, 10 will be contested at Cajun Field including four of the last six before the conference tournament.

The 2003 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer tournament will be held Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 5-8 at the WKU Soccer Field on the campus of Western Kentucky University.

Last season, the Cajuns finished fourth in the conference - its highest mark since joining the league and beginning the program in 2000.

"Last year's finish in the Sun Belt has raised the bar for us," Poggi said. "We will need to use our non-conference schedule to prepare us for a run at our first league title."

Louisiana returns eight starters and a total of 13 letterwinnners from last season's 6-9-3 squad.

"We've made strides each year since starting the program in 2000," Poggi added. "With the additions we've made to compliment a core group of solid returning performers, 2003 could be a special year for the Lady Cajuns."

For the first time in program history the Cajuns will have a returning goalkeeper in Bradenton, Fla., native Liza Preseault. Last year Preseault notched a school record six wins and tallied three shutouts.

Senior Ashley Delahoussaye and junior * Brown will be relied upon to help fill the void left by the departure of last season's top goal scorer Stacy Smith and last season's assists leader Sara Vienberg.

The Lady Cajuns will report for fall drills on Friday, Aug. 8 and will begin competition with an exhibition match against Mississippi Valley State Saturday, Aug. 23.


To view the 2003 Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer schedule please visit
http://www.ragincajuns.com/soccer/schedule.html

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

2003 LOUISIANA LADY CAJUNS SOCCER SCHEDULE
All Times are subject to change

AUGUST:
23 - !MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE, 7 p.m.;
29 - #vs. Jackson State, TBA;
31 - #vs. Coastal Carolina, TBA

SEPTEMBER:
3 - at Nicholls State, 4 p.m.;
7 - SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, 1 p.m.;
12 - at Northwestern State, 7 p.m.;
14 - LOUISIANA-MONROE, 1 p.m.;
19 - LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, 7 p.m.;
21 - MCNEESE STATE, 1 p.m.;
26 - at Alabama, 7 p.m.

OCTOBER:
3 - *SOUTH ALABAMA, 7 p.m.;
5 - TULANE, 1 p.m.;
9 - at Centenary, 7 p.m.;
12 - *at Florida International, Noon;
17 - *ARKANSAS STATE, 7 p.m.;
19 - ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK, 1 p.m.;
24 - *at North Texas, 7 p.m.;
26 - *at Denver, Noon;
31 - *WESTERN KENTUCKY, 7 p.m.

NOVEMBER:
2 - *MIDDLE TENNESSEE, 1 p.m.;
5-8 - at Sun Belt Conference
Tournament (Bowling Green, Ky.)

! Denotes exhibition contest
# Denotes match played at LSU Tournament (Baton Rouge, La.)
* Denotes Sun Belt Conference match

LOUISIANA SI

[Rebel02]

How did Coach Poggi get the almighty flagship to come to Cajun Field? Congrats to him on getting them on the schedule and I wish the Ladies the best in that game.

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - Preseason polls offer a prediction of things to expect, it's not an exact science.

In fact, seldom do they hold true to form.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer program knows all to well that one shouldn't place much stock in one.

All the Cajuns have done the past two seasons is defy the odds, using the poll as a motivational tool.

Last season, the Cajuns were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Sun Belt Conference soccer league. They would end up in fourth place at the end of the season and were mere percentage points from claiming a third-place slot.

In 2001, the Cajuns were picked to finish dead last and wound up finishing sixth.

So with the release of the 2003 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Preseason Poll on Wednesday by league officials, its looks as though the 2003 season will be yet another one of defying the odds for head coach Dave Poggi and his squad.

Louisiana was picked seventh in the poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches, for the second straight season. The Cajuns received 31 votes.

"My first reaction was that the coaches in our league have been consistent over the past three years," Poggi said. "Each year we have finished three spots higher than where we were picked in the preseason poll. Maybe it will happen again."

Denver, last season's regular season and tournament champion, was picked first in the poll. North Texas was a close second, just three points behind the Pioneers. Denver received five first-place votes while UNT garnered four.

Just eight points separated the third through fifth place picks. Western Kentucky, which returns its entire starting lineup from 2002, was third with 53 votes while South Alabama (three preseason All-Sun Belt picks) was tabbed fourth with 48 votes. Fifth-place selection Middle Tennessee received 45 votes.

Florida International, Louisiana, Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock rounded out the poll.

"In all fairness to the other coaches in our league, we did lose our team captain and leading scorer from last season," Poggi said. "That was probably one of the main factors in the where we were placed."

The Cajuns, who return six starters, must replace their leading scorer from 2002 - Stacy Smith. Smith, who led the team with 10 goals last season, transferred and leaves the Cajuns a big void offensively.

Louisiana also lost its top defender, assists leader, and captain Sara Vienberg. Vienberg posted a program-record nine assists in 2002.

The Cajuns do, though, return a starting goalkeeper for the first time in program history. Sophomore goalkeeper Liza Preseault returns in net a year after setting the school record for wins (six) and posting three shutouts.

"We have a lot of good players on this team," Poggi said. "Some may not have received the recognition that I feel they deserve, but at the end of the season I hope they will."

The Cajuns will stage a preseason exhibition match on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. in Cajun Field against Mississippi Valley State, the first of 11 matches at Cajun Field this season. Admission is free of charge to all fans.

The regular season, which will be the fourth in program history, officially begins on Friday, Aug. 29, in a 5 p.m. match against Jackson State in Baton Rouge at the LSU Tournament.

The regular season home opener is slated for Sunday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. against Conference USA-member Southern Mississippi.

Season passes for all home matches are currently on sale. The pass costs $35. For more information or to purchase a pass please call the Cajundome Ticket Office at (337) 265-2357.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

2003 Sun Belt Conference Preseason All-Sun Belt Team

Forwards
Marilyn Marin, Sr., North Texas
Mychael Movius, Sr., Denver
Laura Miguez, Jr., Middle Tennessee

Midfielders
Melissa Behrent, Sr., Denver
Rebecca Kahn, So., South Alabama
Jocelyn Roach, Jr., Western Kentucky

Defensemen
Elena Esquibel, Jr., UALR
Melissa Moeschl, Sr., South Alabama
Jamie Norwood, Sr., Denver
Melissa Robinson, Jr., Western Kentucky

Goalkeeper
Amber Angermeier, Jr., South Alabama

Player of the Year – Marilyn Marin, North Texas

[NewsCopy]

Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Pol
1. Denver (5), 77
2. North Texas (4), 74
3. Western Kentucky, 53
4. South Alabama, 48
5. Middle Tennessee, 45
6. Florida International, 41
7. Louisiana, 31
8. Arkansas State, 19
9. Arkansas-Little Rock, 17

[NewsCopy]

Denver picked to repeat as SBC champs

NEW ORLEANS — The University of Denver women’s soccer team is the favorite to repeat as Sun Belt Conference champions in 2003.

The 2002 champions received five of the nine first-place votes in a poll released Wednesday. League coaches voted on the poll.

The Pioneers were 17-2-2 a year ago and 8-0 in league play. Denver tallied 77 points, while North Texas is close behind with 73 points. The Mean Green received four first-place votes and 73 points overall.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana hosts Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m. in Cajun Field

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer program will jump start the 2003-04 athletics season at the University of Louisiana and debut its 2003 team Saturday evening in a 7 p.m. exhibition match against Mississippi Valley State at Cajun Field.

The match will be the first of 11 (10 during the regular season) for the Cajuns this season at Cajun Field and will kick off the fourth season in program history.

Admission is free of charge to all. The two teams will play two, 45-minute halves.

The Ragin' Cajuns, coming off of a 6-9-3 season in 2002 and a fourth-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference, return six starters and a total of 12 members from last season's squad.

The Cajuns will field a total of 26 players among which six are upperclassmen, eight are sophomores and 12 freshmen.

Lafayette native Ashley Delahoussaye is the lone senior on the team. Delahoussaye highlights a list of five Lafayette area players, which also includes St. Thomas More product Marielle Phillips who is a sophomore who returned to her roots after transferring from Centenary College.

Other Lafayette natives on the roster are Anna Brannon (freshman, goalkeeper), Ainsley Breaux (sophomore, midfielder) and Natalie Hanks (junior, defender).

The Cajuns will have a familiar name in goal as sophomore goalkeeper Liza Preseault returns for her second season in net. Last season the Bradenton, Fla., native set the program record for wins (six) and posted three shutouts - all in succession. The return of Preseault marks the first time in program history that Louisiana returns its starting goalkeeper from the previous season.

For head coach Dave Poggi and his staff Saturday's contest will give them an opportunity to see the team in live, real-like match situations and evaluate which combinations work best.

"It's an opportunity for a lot of new people to play together for the first time against a common opponent, rather than themselves," Poggi said. "This match is going to set the bar in terms of things we will need to work on next week in preparation for the season opener."

"One of our main goals will be to figure out how we are going to score goals," Poggi said in reference to losing last season's leading scorer Stacy Smith. "This will be an opportunity to see which combinations work and give us the best opportunity to be successful."

Mississippi Valley State, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, is in its first season of competition at the NCAA Division I level and first as a program. The Delta Devils are one of 12 new programs beginning play in 2003.

Following Saturday's exhibition match, the Cajuns will have six days to prepare for the 2003 regular season opener which takes place on Friday, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m., in Baton Rouge against Jackson State in the opening round of the LSU Tournament.

The 2003 regular season home opener is slated for Sunday, Sept. 7, in a 1 p.m. match against Conference USA-member Southern Mississippi.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Brown’s hat trick paces Cajuns’ win

LOUISIANA La. — Junior midfielder * Brown registered a hat trick to lead Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team to a 6-0 rout of an outmanned Mississippi Valley State squad here Saturday night in an exhibition match at Cajun Field.

Freshman Lauren Schwindt got the Cajun offense started in the opening moments when she took a pass from Brown and found the back of the net at the 2:56 mark for a quick 1-0 lead.

Brown notched her first of three goals when she picked up a loose ball in front of the net and sent it past MVSU goalkeeper Natasha McFadden to produce a 2-0 lead just 6:13 into the match.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana 6, Mississippi Valley State 0

Date: Aug. 23, 2003
Site: Louisiana La.
Att: 161

Goals by Period           1   2      Total

Miss. Valley State        0   0        0

Louisiana                 2   4        6

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 2:56 UL Schwindt, Lauren (Brown, *)
2. 6:13 UL Brown, * (unassisted)
3. 47:35 UL Brown, * (Hanks, Natalie)
4. 60:20 UL Brown, * (unassisted)
5. 66:46 UL Garber, Tiffany (unassisted)
6. 67:10 UL Delahoussaye, Ashley (unassisted)

Shots:
UL 49, MVSU 2

Shots on Goal:
UL 21, MVSU 1

Saves:
UL 1 (Preseault 0, Brannon 1),
MVSU 15 (McFadden 7, Sims 6, Team 2)

Fouls:
UL Lafayette 8, MVSU 7

Corner Kicks:
UL Lafayette 9, MVSU 1

Yellow Cards:
UL Lafayette 0, MVSU 0

Offsides:
UL Lafayette 7, MVSU 3

[NewsCopy]

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's Lady Cajuns soccer program will begin the fourth season of its existence here today in a 5 p.m. match against Jackson State in the first day of action at the LSU Tiger Classic being held at the LSU Soccer Complex today and Sunday.

Today’s match will be the first of two for the Ragin’ Cajuns at the tournament which concludes on Sunday. Louisiana will face Coastal Carolina on Sunday at 11 a.m. in its tournament finale. No matches will be played on Saturday.

The Cajuns, opening their season on the road for the fourth straight year, have never won a season opener.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana wins easy with 10-0 Soccer Victory

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team scored a school record 10 goals en route to an easy 10-0 victory over the Jackson State Tigers Friday evening in the first day of the LSU Tiger Classics here at the LSU Soccer Complex.

Box score was not available at press time.

The win also marked the first season-opening victory for the Lady Cajuns since the program’s inception in 2000.

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns will return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. when they take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the final day of the LSU Tiger Classics.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana opens their 2003 home schedule on September 7 against Southern Miss at 1 p.m.

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer team will look to remain undefeated early on in the 2003 season when they take on Coastal Carolina Sunday at 11 a.m. here on the final day of the Tiger Classics at the LSU Soccer Complex.

On Friday, UL (1-0) crushed Jackson State 10-0 in the first match on the tournament setting the school record for goals and recording the program's first-ever season-opening win.

Lafayette natives Ainsley Breaux and Ashley Delahoussaye each scored two goals in the contest. A total of eight Cajuns contributed goals in the win.

In the night cap of Friday's action, Coastal Carolina (0-1) dropped a 2-1 decision to host-LSU, losing the match on a goal in the 89th minute.

Louisiana and CCU will be meeting for the first time.

The Chanticleers were 8-6-4 last season - posting the first winning season in program history. CCU returns nine starters from that squad and a total of 18 lettermen.


Following Sunday's match, the Cajuns will visit Nicholls State on Wednesday, Sept. 3 for a 4 p.m. match before opening the 2003 home slate on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. against Southern Mississippi.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Chanticleers slip past Louisiana on a goal in 36th minute

BATON ROUGE - Coastal Carolina's Laura Weiler scored the breakthrough goal in the 36th minute and goalkeeper Candice Doten made it stand as Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer team fell inches short in its attempt for a 2-0 start to the season, dropping a 1-0 decision to CCU in each team's finale here Sunday morning at the LSU Tiger Classic.

The two teams played scoreless until Weiler's goal at the 36:56 mark of the first half - a score which proved to be the match-winning goal.

After receiving a pass from midfield she dribbled around Cajuns defender Jessica Wallace inside the box and beat Liza Preseault, who was out of position attempting to cover for Wallace, for an open-net, tap-in goal.

"We got caught flat on our end of the field," said Louisiana coach Dave Poggi. "Liza (Preseault) came off her line quickly to cover for Jessica (Wallace) and (Laura) Weiler basically pushed it around Liza for an open-net goal."

The Cajuns could muster just three shots on goal with Lindsay Webb providing two of them. Louisiana's lack of opportunities was a direct result of the Cajuns playing against the flow of the match for much of the opening half.

"The second half was an even one," Poggi said. "There was a span of about 20 minutes where we put a lot of pressure on them, keeping the ball on their side of the field.

"But it was that final pass or touch where they came up big defensively or we just ran out of gas and didn't have anything to show for how much pressure we were putting on them."

Louisiana also failed to cash in on six corner kick opportunities - including four in the second frame.

The Cajuns had a late chance to tie the match, but Rachel Rozelle's attempt was stopped by Doten to preserve the clean sheet.

"Both teams fought hard and it was a clean match," Poggi added. "It was a good test for us this early in the season. These are the kinds of matches which make you better."

True freshmen Melissa Barger and Lauren Schwindt were the Cajuns representatives on the all-tournament team.

Louisiana completed the tournament with a 1-1 record and a third-place finish.

The Cajuns will now turn their attention to a match at Nicholls State (0-2) on Wednesday in Thibodaux at 4 p.m. The Colonels dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Southern Mississippi Friday and fell 3-0 to Tulane Sunday at the Tulane Invitational.

---

MATCH SUMMARY
Date: Aug. 31, 2003
Site: Baton Rouge, La. (LSU Soccer Complex)

Goals by Period          P1   P2    Total

Louisiana (1-1)          0    0       0

Coastal Carolina (1-1)   1    0       1

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 36:56 CCU Weiler, Laura (Stirton, April)

Shots: Louisiana 7, CCU 19
Shots on Goal: Louisiana 3, CCU 10
Saves: Louisiana 9 (Preseault, Liza), CCU 3 (Doten, Candice)
Fouls: Louisiana 10, CCU 16
Corner Kicks: Louisiana 6, CCU 3
Yellow Cards/Ejections: None
Offsides: Louisiana 0, CCU 3LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana makes first trip to Thibodaux

THIBODAUX - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer team will conclude its season-opening, three-match road trip here Wednesday in a 4 p.m. match against Nicholls State at the NSU Soccer Field.

The Cajuns (1-1) split a pair of matches last weekend at the Tiger Classics in Baton Rouge posting a record-breaking 10-0 win over Jackson State in the opener before dropping a 1-0 decision to Coastal Carolina on Sunday.

Louisiana received a balanced-scoring attack in the JSU win as eight different players scored at least one goal. The Cajuns will look to get the offense back on track after letting Sunday's match with Coastal Carolina slip away.

Nicholls State (0-2) dropped a pair of matches last weekend at the Tulane Invitational in New Orleans and will be making its home debut.

The Colonels lost their season opener last Friday to Southern Mississippi 2-1 in overtime as the Golden Eagles scored with three minutes left in the 10-minute overtime period. Then on Sunday, NSU kept Tulane scoreless for 73-plus minutes of the match before the Green Wave erupted for three goals over the next nine minutes.

"We know that they are coming off of a weekend where they played well and just didn't have the bounces go their way," said Louisiana coach Dave Poggi. "They're a good team, much improved from last year when we played them and will provide a good challenge for us.

"I expect this to be a difficult match," Poggi added. "We've never played there so we are unfamiliar with the facility. The only real known is that it's going to be a tough match and we are looking forward to it."

Wednesday's match will be the second in as many years between the two in-state rivals. UL holds a 1-0 edge in the series.

Last year, the Cajuns posted a 4-0 win at Cajun Field in a rain-soaked contest on Sept. 24. Louisiana scored four first-half goals and was never tested by the Colonels outshooting them 35-3.

The Ragin' Cajuns will be shooting for the best three-match start in program history. Louisiana is 3-11-1 all-time versus other in-state schools.

On the injury front, sophomore midfielder Kristina Klausen, who missed both matches last weekend, is still doubtful for Wednesday's tilt. The Denmark native is suffering from a minor knee injury which occurred in the Cajuns exhibition against Mississippi Valley State Aug. 23.

Senior forward Ashley Delahoussaye is questionable as well after aggravating a past knee injury.

Following Wednesday's match, the Cajuns will be off for three days before making the 2003 regular season home debut on Sunday, Sept. 7 in a 1 p.m. match with Conference-USA member Southern Mississippi.

LOUISIANA SI