HAMMOND, La- The Southeastern Louisiana University women's soccer team will open a six-game road swing to start the 2023 season with a pair of nonconference matches.
 
SLU, which was picked third in the Southland Conference preseason polls earlier this month, will open the season Friday with a 6:30 p.m. match at UTRGV. Sunday will see the Lady Lions take on Houston at 5 p.m.
 
Both games will air on ESPN+ and live stats for both contests, provided by the hosts, will be accessible via the soccer schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern returns 17 letter winners from last season's team, which finished 7-7-3 overall and posted a 5-4-3 SLC record. The Lady Lion roster also features 10 talented newcomers, as second-year head coach Nathan Gillespie enters the 2023 campaign with high hopes.
 
Mya Guillory, the reigning SLC Midfielder and Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year, is the leading returning scorer for Southeastern, after netting a team-high six goals last fall. Kelsey Fuller (three goals), Sara Bancevic (two goals) and Emma Jones (two goals) all return after finding the net multiple times last fall. Jones and Guillory share the team lead with five assists.
 
In the net, Olivia Griffin returns for Southeastern. In her first season as a starter, the Toppsfield, Massachusetts native finished with 63 saves and a 1.22 goals against average.
 
UTRGV finished with a 3-12-3 record in 2022. Ana Recarte-Pacheco is the team's top returning goal scorer with three goals last fall, while Emma Loov returns in goal after posting a 2.08 GAA and recording 56 saves.
 
Houston, which opens the season at Washington Thursday, finished 6-7-3 overall a season ago. Nadia Kamassah (three goals) is UH's leading returning scorer, while the Cougars will have a new goalkeeper in 2023.
Southeastern will continue its season-opening road swing next Saturday with a trip to Ole Miss. The 6 p.m. contest versus the Rebels will air on SEC Network+.  
 
SCORE ONE MORE CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the women's soccer program are encouraged to join the Score One More Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Score One More Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern soccer program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Soccer, follow @LionUpSoccer and @Nathan90G on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.