Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – The defending Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team used a huge first half surge on the way to a 6-0 win over non-conference foe Alcorn State in the 2011 season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
Southeastern (1-0) won its season opener for the sixth consecutive season. The Lady Lions controlled the action throughout and finished with a 23-2 shot advantage over visiting Alcorn State (0-1).
Four different Lady Lions found the net on Friday, including junior
Sam McNally, who scored the first two goals of her career. Sophomore
Jaci Teresinski added two goals of her own, while juniors
Megan Miller and
Karly Dagys each scored a goal.
Junior
Lauren Stillians controlled the match flow from the central midfield, finishing with a career-high three assists. Dagys, who led the Southland in assists in 2010, added two assists of her own and moved into 10th place on the school's career assist list with 15.
Defensively, the starting back line of senior
Kyle MacIntosh, junior
Kerry McWhirter, sophomore
Shanyce Shaw and freshman
Jennifer Marzi thwarted Alcorn State's limited opportunities to attack. Junior goalkeeper
Cassie Northrup recorded her first career shutout in her first match as a collegiate starter.
Southeastern head coach
Blake Hornbuckle was pleased with his team's effort.
“We wanted to find a rhythm early and we were able to do that,” Hornbuckle commented. “Once we found that rhythm, we did a nice job attacking and creating, which allowed us to open up the match in the first half.”
Hornbuckle singled out several players for praise, including two freshman starters – Marzi and
Jen Babcock – who impressed in their Southeastern debut.
“We felt that
Jen Babcock had an immediate impact for us with her ability to distribute and keep our attack connected,” Hornbuckle said. “
Jennifer Marzi was a rock for us on the back line and she communicated extremely well.
“We were also very pleased with Jaci and the job she did establishing herself as a target,” Hornbuckle continued. “Karly was a huge factor for us up top with her tireless work rate. Lauren was perhaps the player of the match. She was able to get three assists simply by winning balls and getting the ball to our forwards in the right position.”
Southeastern's speed up top was evident from the outset of the match, as Dagys and sophomore
Kelsey Salcido each had good looks in the opening minutes. The Lady Lions finally got on the board in the sixth minute, as Stillians played a ball through that Teresinski was able to run down and knock past Alcorn State goalkeeper Emily Leeming for a 1-0 lead.
In the 19th minute it was Miller's turn, as Stillians played a similar ball that the Castle Rock, Colo. native finished for a 2-0 Southeastern lead. Near the midway point of the first half, McNally scored for the first time as a Lady Lion after getting free on the right flank and taking a feed from Dagys.
Dagys got in on the scoring with just over 10 minutes left in the opening period. The preseason first team All-Southland selection took a pass from Stillians and drilled a shot into the upper left corner of the net past a leaping Leeming.
McNally closed out the first half scoring in the 40th minute in an unconventional manner. The Caledon, Ont. product served a corner kick that curved just inside the near post to put Southeastern up, 5-0, heading into the break.
After building a large halftime lead, Southeastern took its foot off the gas in a second half that saw both teams empty the benches. Dagys found Teresinski in the 65th minute to close out the scoring. The two goals for Teresinski marked the first multi-goal match of the Chandler, Ariz. native's career.
Southeastern will return to action on Sunday, hosting Alabama State at 1 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex.
