HAMMOND – For the first time in school history, the Southeastern Louisiana soccer team will face the No. 1 team in the nation when it travels to Tallahassee, Florida for a 6 p.m. (CDT) match at defending national champion Florida State on Friday.
The Lady Lions (2-0) and the host Seminoles (2-0) will see their match broadcast live on ESPN3. The ESPN3 video stream and live statistics provided by FSU will be accessible at LionSports.net.
Southeastern is coming off an opening weekend that saw it pick up a pair of victories. SLU opened the season with a 2-0 victory over Jackson State, before opening its road schedule with a 5-2 win at Mississippi Valley State.
Southeastern has exhibited a balanced offense through the first two matches of the season. Senior
Kayla Vera and junior
Marisa Rodrigues share the team lead with two goals apiece. Senior
Gisenia Utreras, junior
Bri Singh and freshman
Vanessa Arzaluz each have one goal apiece.
Utreras has been the catalyst of the offense thus far this season. The Brampton, Ontario, Canada native had a career-high three assists in the win at Mississippi Valley State and leads the team with four assists. Junior
Katie Noonan, who led the Southland in assists last season, has two assists on the year, while sophomores
Ana Zadro and
Maggie Ramsey have one each.
Defensively, Southeastern has limited opponents to six shots in the first two matches. Junior
Hope Sabadash has handled all the work in the net for SLU, entering Friday's match with a 1.00 goals against average and one shutout.
Florida State opened the season with a 3-1 victory over New Mexico and a 1-0 win over USC. The top-ranked Seminoles will open their home schedule on Friday versus the Lady Lions.
Senior Cheyna Williams, freshman Natalia Kuikka, junior Berglind Thorvaldsdottir and senior Isabella Schmid each have found the net for FSU. Williams also leads the Seminoles with two assists.
Much like Southeastern, FSU has limited its opponents' scoring chances, holding UNM and USC to seven shots. Sophomore Cassie Miller has four saves in net, a 0.50 goals against average and one shutout.
Friday will mark the second trip to Tallahassee for Southeastern. In 2009, the Lady Lions made their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, falling in the opening round to then-No. 6 FSU. Then-freshman Maiya Cooper, a member of the recently announced SLU Soccer 20
th Anniversary Team, scored in the loss to the Seminoles.
Following Friday's match, Southeastern will have the weekend off before hosting Southern on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream of Tuesday's match at LionSports.net.
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