ABILENE – The Abilene Christian soccer team heads to Louisiana for week two of Southland Conference play. The Wildcats will face off against Southeastern Louisiana Friday at 7 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex. Sunday the Wildcats will travel 80 miles southwest to match up against Nicholls at 1 p.m. in Thibodaux, La.
Against the Lady Lions: ACU and SLU have hit the pitch four times prior to Friday's meeting. The Wildcats hold a 3-1 advantage over the Lady Lions, outscoring SLU 5-2. The first meeting between the two schools came in 2013 resulting in a 1-0 ACU victory. Former Wildcat Andrea Carpenter, who holds the all-time individual career record for goals scored with 56, netted ACU's lone goal of the game early in the second half.
Samantha Vestal and
Chloe Fifer each scored one goal for ACU in last season's match that resulted in a 2-0 win. SLU held a 21-11 shot advantage but could not capitalize on their opportunities.
Against the Colonels: The Wildcats and Colonels have faced each other four previous times and ACU holds a 3-1 series advantage. In the pairs first matchup Nicholls beat Abilene Christian 3-1 at Nicholls Soccer Complex on Sept. 27, 2013. The Wildcats have since then outscored the Colonels 9-2 in the last three meetings.
Dylan Owens tapped in a loose ball from six yards out last season to beat Nicholls 2-1 in overtime.
Kelsie Roberts opened scoring for the Wildcats in 32nd minute of the contest after heading in Fifer's corner kick from inside the goalbox.
Coach's Quote: "Going down to Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls is always a tough weekend," head coach
Casey Wilson said. "The goals for this weekend are to continue to build upon the things we are doing well, push ourselves to clean up mistakes in the back and be more creative on the offensive side of the ball."
Follow Along: Fans can follow along with Friday's action against the Lady Lions
here and Sunday's afternoon match against the Colonels
here.
Quick Kicks:
- Junior Dylan Owens scored the game winner against UTEP in overtime, giving ACU its first victory of the season
- Sophomore Shay Johnson and Owens lead the team with seven points each
- Freshman Erin Smith has recorded 31 saves in six games
- Sophomore Samantha Vestal lead the Wildcats with three assists
- Freshman Christina Arteaga leads the team with 669 minutes played and 32 shots
- 23 Wildcats have seen action on the pitch this season
- ACU has 15 returners and 15 newcomers on the 2017 roster
- This is head coach Casey Wilson's 11th year with the team. He is the architect and only head coach in program history. He also is one of 23 NCAA DI women's soccer coaches still with the team that they founded.
