Soccer Final: Louisiana 2, FIU 1

[NewsCopy]

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer team officially kicks off the Chris McBride era on Thursday when it plays host to Florida International in the season opener for both teams at the Home Bank Track/Soccer Facility.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Admission is free.

The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Graham Doty (pxp) and Scott Brazda (color) providing the commentary. Live stats will be available at https://CajunStats.com.

Louisiana begins its first season under McBride, who spent the previous five years at in-state program Southeastern Louisiana. McBride inherits a roster that returns 15 letterwinners, including 2021 All-Sun Belt Conference performers Karleen Bedre and Ruthny Mathurin.

FIU, which was a member of the Sun Belt Conference from 2000-12, finished 2-12-2 overall last season. The Panthers will make their first trip to Lafayette since Oct. 24, 2010 when the Ragin' Cajuns pulled out a 2-1 victory.

MATCH INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (6-10-3 in 2021) vs. FIU (2-12-2 in 2021)
Date / Time: August 18, 2022 / 7 p.m.
Site: Lafayette, La.
Stadium: Home Bank Track/Soccer Facility (grass)

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Chris McBride (Tennessee Southern, 2011)
Record at Louisiana: 0-0-0 (first season); Overall Record: 31-42-15 (sixth season)

FIU
Head Coach: Jonathan Garbar (Delaware, 2002)
Record at FIU: 5-21-2 (third season); Career Record: 39-36-8 (sixth season)

VIDEO/LIVE STATS/SOCIAL UPDATES
Streaming Video: ESPN+
Talent: Graham Doty (pbp); Scott Brazda (color)

WEATHER FORECAST (via Weather.com)
Thursday: Thunderstorms | High: 88° | Winds: WNW 6 mph | Rain: 80%
At kickoff: Thunderstorms | 78° | Wind: NW 3 mph | Rain: 70%

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: FIU leads, 6-4-3
at Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 3-1-1
at Miami: FIU leads, 3-1-2
Neutral Sites: FIU leads, 2-0-0
Streak: FIU +1

SET PIECES
• Louisiana officially kicks off its 23rd season of Women's Soccer on Thursday when it hosts Florida International at the Home Bank Track/Soccer Facility.
• The match marks the Louisiana debut for head coach Chris McBride, who was named the fourth coach in school history on Feb. 24, 2022.
• McBride, a native of Scotland, spent the past five seasons as head coach at Southeastern Louisiana.
• Louisiana and FIU, a former member of the Sun Belt Conference from 2000-12, will meet for the first time on the pitch since 2-1 Panther win on Oct. 12, 2012 in Miami.
• The match between the Ragin' Cajuns and Panthers is the first in Lafayette since Louisiana earned a 2-1 win on Oct. 24, 2010.
• In the previous three seasons, Louisiana has posted a 14-6-3 record on its home pitch.
Karleen Bedre and Ruthny Mathurin represent Louisiana on the 2022 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team.
• Mariella and Sisley Stephens are one of 50 sets of sisters on NCAA Division I rosters this season.
• Louisiana has 10 international players on its 2022 roster hailing from seven countries.

RULE CHANGES FOR 2022
Major changes to the overtime rules in men's and women's college soccer have been announced following a meeting by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

Changes are set to go into effect during the 2022 season, and will be implemented for both the regular season and postseason.

For the regular season, overtime has been eliminated, meaning if a game is tied after the regulation 90 minutes, it will end in a tie. Previously, teams played two 10-minute overtime periods in a sudden-victory (golden goal) format, and if neither team scored, the game ended in a tie.

In conference tournaments and NCAA postseason games, the sudden-victory component has been eliminated, and teams will play two 10-minute overtime periods instead. Also, when a substitution is made by the winning team in the last five minutes of the second overtime, the game clock will stop.

If the game remains tied, a penalty-kick shootout will be held to determine the winner.

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[ragin50]

Louisiana 2, FIU 1, FINAL!

[RedTails]

Watched on ESPN+. Should have easily been 3-1, missed a wide open shot. Cajuns dominated last 10 minutes of the first, and the entire second half.

[NewsCopy]

Ruthny Mathurin scored an equalizing goal in the second half before assisting on Lafayette native Jacie Crochet's game-winner in the 74th minute to help the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer team rally to a 2-1 victory over Florida International in the season-opener for both teams on Thursday at the Home Bank Track/Soccer Facility.

The win for Louisiana (1-0-0), which was delayed 30 minutes due to thunderstorms in the Lafayette area, marked the first on the Ragin' Cajuns sidelines for head coach Chris McBride who spent the previous five seasons at in-state opponent Southeastern Louisiana.

After FIU (0-1-0) built a 1-0 lead at the half on Noemi Paquin's goal in the 14th minute, the Ragin' Cajuns applied pressure up top and tied the match at 1-1 when Tatum Beck stole the ball from Panther goalie Ithaisa Vinoly and found Mathurin for an open-net goal in the 65th minute.

Mathurin nearly broke the deadlock just over a minute later when her left-footed blast from just inside the 18-yard box sailed over the crossbar. The sophomore and Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection would bounce back a few minutes later when she started a drive down the right side of the field, found freshman Sisley Stephens who got the ball to Crochet – a former Lafayette High product and transfer from LSU-Eunice – for the game-winner.

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[CajunVic]

Two undefeated teams this fall . . . Ring That Bell

[ZoomZoom]

SBC 1, C-DOA 0.

[RaginDave]

I really don't want to rain on the teams parade, but FIU went 2-12-2 last year with their only wins being Stetson and ODU. They were missing 4 players last night, including 1 that is out for the year. The positive is that it was a peer conference win and we have to start somewhere and they lost 8 of those 12 games by 1 goal and went to overtime in 5 games last season. So they were not far from being mediocre. But before we start planning conference championships we need to get some sustainable success, but I am agreed with you that this was a nice win to start the season.

[JayWalker]

I really don't want to rain on the teams parade, but FIU went 2-12-2 last year with their only wins being Stetson and ODU. They were missing 4 players last night, including 1 that is out for the year. The positive is that it was a peer conference win and we have to start somewhere and they lost 8 of those 12 games by 1 goal and went to overtime in 5 games last season. So they were not far from being mediocre. But before we start planning conference championships we need to get some sustainable success, but I am agreed with you that this was a nice win to start the season.

First time one of our coaches is 1-0 for his career at UL. Poggi, Wieland and Key all lost their first match at UL.

[Turbine]

Wieland was given way to long of a leash.

[RedTails]

I really don't want to rain on the teams parade, but FIU went 2-12-2 last year with their only wins being Stetson and ODU. They were missing 4 players last night, including 1 that is out for the year. The positive is that it was a peer conference win and we have to start somewhere and they lost 8 of those 12 games by 1 goal and went to overtime in 5 games last season. So they were not far from being mediocre. But before we start planning conference championships we need to get some sustainable success, but I am agreed with you that this was a nice win to start the season.

Everything you said was valid, but we did dominate them. Would be raining on the team's parade to say that when it was an even match, but it wasn't. I look forward to watching more games.

[cajun4life]

Man I really hope we can become a regional power in soccer.

[RaginDave]

Everything you said was valid, but we did dominate them. Would be raining on the team's parade to say that when it was an even match, but it wasn't. I look forward to watching more games.

I watched the game last night from whistle to whistle and I agree we dominated them after about mid way through the 1st half. They were a much better passing team then us but our "D" was very good against them. We missed an opportunity early in the game that hit the post and their goalie made a number of really good plays, but on both of the goals we scored and the 1 we missed that was a chip shot, she made some bonehead mistakes coming out way too far to defend and getting burned because of it.

[RedTails]

And for anyone dropping into the thread for curiosity, all games are free to attend and are also streamed on ESPN+. So you can get more out of your ESPN+ subscription. Something to watch during the week when Football isn't on.

[CajunGrad16]

I’m just glad that no one got injured last night because that field was all messed up from the rain. I was honestly surprised they played. The Cajuns came from behind to get the victory

[moorecajun]

I really don't want to rain on the teams parade, but FIU went 2-12-2 last year with their only wins being Stetson and ODU. They were missing 4 players last night, including 1 that is out for the year. The positive is that it was a peer conference win and we have to start somewhere and they lost 8 of those 12 games by 1 goal and went to overtime in 5 games last season. So they were not far from being mediocre. But before we start planning conference championships we need to get some sustainable success, but I am agreed with you that this was a nice win to start the season.

I will always take the W.