HAMMOND, La. – The day Chris McBride and the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team have waited nine months for has arrived as the Lady Lions host Jackson State in the 2017 season opener Friday at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium.

    Live stats and streaming will be available on the Southeastern women's soccer schedule page at www.lionsports.net.

    McBride, who was hired as Southeastern's fourth women's soccer coach in November, and assistant Mary Mancin will lead a team with 13 returnees and 11 newcomers.

    "It's been a long time," McBride said. "We've been looking forward to this and as a team, we've been building all spring and all summer and through the preseason to get ready for this day. We're excited to get started and are looking forward to the match."

    Southeastern returns all but two of its 10 top point scorers from a 2016 team that went 7-11-2 overall and tied for sixth in the Southland Conference at 4-6-1. The Lady Lions are picked to finish seventh in the Southland by the league coaches and sports information staffs.

    Junior forward Sofia Olsson returns after leading the Lady Lions with six goals and tying for the team lead with 13 points. Junior Maggie Ramsey and senior midfielder Maddie Kresevic each had three goals and seven points while junior defender Christina Cutura and junior midfielder Vanessa Arzaluz added two goals and six points apiece. Senior midfielder Lauren Babcock shared the team lead with five assists and joined junior defender Payton Colson and sophomore forward Amber Marinero with five points each.

    Looking to add to that attack are redshirt freshman Lexie Gundersen and freshman Jessi Cooper at forward and Larissa Galvez Estrada, Megan Gordon, Gabrielle Anderson and Miranda Marquez in the midfield.

    Southeastern's defense welcomes the return of junior Elizabeth Hunter, senior Kim Porche and sophomores Caitlin LaMarche and Caroline Lee and the addition of junior Logan Phillips and freshmen Matilda Hallas-Potts, Maja Blanck and Abby Johnson.  

    A pair of freshmen, Michaela Hawthorn and Bailey Scott, will battle for the starting goalkeeper role.

    Southeastern will be taking on a Jackson State team that finished 4-12-1 overall in 2016 while finishing sixth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference at 4-5-1. The Lady Tigers return 14 letterwinners while welcoming in eight newcomers.

    Jackson State brings back two of its top scorers in junior forward Jessica Blair and sophomore forward Jolene Ceniceros, each of whom had three goals and sixth points a year ago. Sophomore midfielder Jalah Carter tied for the team lead with two assists.

    Junior Faith Toennies (1-3-0, 14 saves, 2.71 GAA) and sophomore Rachyl Robles (1.29 GAA) return after seeing action in goal last season.

    Southeastern is 7-0 all-time versus Jackson State. The past four meetings have been decided by two goals with the Lady Lions taking a 2-0 win in Jackson in the second match of the 2016 season.

    "Jackson State is going to come in as a very athletic team and they're very hard to break down," McBride said. "We're going to have to come out with all the new players we've got and new coaches and really be on our game to get results tomorrow."

    Southeastern will be on the road next week, visiting Georgia State on Friday and Alabama State on Sunday. The Lady Lions return home to play Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday, Sept. 1.