@RaginCajunsSOC Match 17 Preview: vs. Georgia Southern

LAFAYETTE – Looking to secure its first trip to the Sun Belt Conference Championships since 2016, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer team will return to action on Friday when it plays host to Georgia Southern at the Ragin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Complex.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ and televised on a tape-delayed basis by Cox Sports Television. Admission is free and live stats will be available at CajunStats.com.

The match against Georgia Southern (6-8-1, 3-4-1 Sun Belt) is "Cajun Soccer Club Night" and will serve as the Ragin' Cajuns Pink Game.

Fans are encouraged to donate for a Volunteers of America homeless outreach "Pack a Pack" program by bringing donated items – back packs, socks, t-shirts, hats, ponchos, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, etc. – that will be collected at the entrance to the stadium. The program, spearheaded by Ragin' Cajuns freshman Rachel Sutter, will be accepting donations for both the Georgia Southern match and Sunday's regular-season finale against Troy.

Louisiana (7-6-3, 3-3-2 Sun Belt), currently in fifth place in the Sun Belt standings, sits among a group of seven teams separated by five points. With 11 points in league play (3 points per win, 1 point per tie), the Ragin' Cajuns are one point ahead of four teams – Little Rock, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina – heading into the final weekend of the regular-season.

The top eight teams in the final league standings will advance to the Sun Belt Conference Championships that will be held Nov. 6-10 in Foley, Ala.

MATCH INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (7-6-3, 3-3-2 Sun Belt) vs. GEORGIA SOUTHERN (6-8-1, 3-4-1 Sun Belt)
Date/Time: October 25, 2019 / 7 p.m.
Site: Lafayette, La.
Facility (Surface): Ragin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Complex (grass)

LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS
Video: ESPN+, Cox Sports Television (tape-delayed)
Talent: Cody Junot (pxp), Rebecca Foley (color)
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsSOC | #GeauxCajuns

WEATHER FORECAST (via Weather.com)
Friday: Rain | High: 70° | Winds: ENE 9 mph | Rain: 100%
At kickoff: Rain | 68° | Wind: NE 8 mph | Rain: 70%

SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 3-2
At Lafayette: Series tied, 1-1
At Statesboro: Louisiana leads, 2-1
Last Meeting: Georgia Southern, 2-0 (10/14/18 at Statesboro)

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Lance Key (Trinity, 2000)
Record at Louisiana: 7-6-3 (first season), Career Record: 217-27-19 (13th season)

GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Head Coach: Josh Moffet (Truett-McConnell, 2015)
Record at GS: 6-8-1 (first season), Career Record: Same

JUST FOR KICKS ...
• Louisiana, playing its 20th season of intercollegiate soccer, closes out the regular-season at home against Georgia Southern (Oct. 25) and Troy (Oct. 27).
• The seven wins by Louisiana under Lance Key are the most by a first-year coach in Ragin' Cajuns history.
• Louisiana can clinch its first appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Championships since 2016 with a win in its final two matches.
• Louisiana's 2-0 victory at ULM on Oct. 13 was its first in Monroe since a 4-0 win on Oct. 28, 2011.
• Louisiana's six shutouts during the 2019 season are one off the school record set in 2010.
• Louisiana's three wins in October equal the total by the Ragin' Cajuns from 2015-18.
• A win in its final two regular-season matches would secure Louisiana's first non-losing season since 2014.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are 4-0-1 at home in 2019 and have allowed one goal this season.
• The four shutouts by Louisiana at home in 2019 are one off the single-season record set by the 2010 squad.
• Louisiana's 1-0 win over Appalachian State on Oct. 4 was its first over the Mountaineers in the last six matches and marked its first shutout in the seven-match series.
• The win was Louisiana's first in the month of October since a 1-0 victory over ULM on Oct. 16, 2016. The Ragin' Cajuns were a combined 0-11-3 since.
• The win for Louisiana was its first in double overtime against a Sun Belt Conference opponent since a 2-1 win at Little Rock on Oct. 17, 2004.
• Louisiana has allowed one first-half goal in its last 13 matches.
• Louisiana's four wins during the month of September were one off the school record that was set four times (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017).

THROW-INS ...
• Louisiana's four-match win streak last month was its longest since victories against ULM (2-0), Little Rock (2-1), Arkansas State (1-0) and Texas State (5-2) from Oct. 6-18, 2013.
• Louisiana's 2-1 win at Sam Houston State on Sept. 8 was its first double overtime road victory since a 3-2 victory at Troy on Sept. 25, 2016.
• Gwen Mummert has started in all 34 career matches she has played in.
• Mummert was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 24 - the first Ragin' Cajun to earn SBC weekly honors since 2017 and the first to claim Defensive Player of the Week honors since Grace Howell-Harries in 2013.
• Skyla Sykes three game-winning goals in 2019 have tied a single-season school record, set eight times previously (last Annika Schmidt and Whitney Taggart in 2016).
• True freshman Olivia Gelpi recorded her first career goal (and game-winning goal) in Louisiana's 2-0 win at ULM on Oct. 13.
• Rainey Niles' goal against Northwestern State on Sept. 15 was the first of her career.
• Senior Kaylie Powell recorded the first point of her career with an assist in Louisiana's 3-1 win over Coastal Carolina on Oct. 6.

SAVES AND CLEAN SHEETS ...
• Senior Mackenzie Lee recorded four saves against Little Rock on Sept. 29 to increase her career total to 146 and move past Anne Corbello (144) into sixth place on the school's all-time list
• The shutout of South Alabama on Sept. 22 was the seventh for Mackenzie Lee in her career, moving her past Cosette Morche (2015-16) into sole possession of fourth-place on the all-time list.
• With 15 career victories between the posts, Lee moved past Morche into fourth place on the Ragin' Cajuns all-time list.
• Louisiana's six shutouts in 2019 are one off the school record set in 2010.
• The Ragin' Cajuns current 1.23 goals against average is on pace to be the lowest in school history.

CAJUNS ADD SURPRIS TO COACHING STAFF
• Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer head coach Lance Key announced on Thursday the addition of Chelsea Surpris (pronounced soo-PREE) to the coaching staff.
• Surpris played in 60 matches with 42 starts during a four-year career at the University of Texas, helping the Longhorns to 43 wins and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Crowley, Texas native logged over 4,500 minutes as a defender for the Longhorns, including 2,004 of a possible 2,005 minutes in the defensive backline in helping Texas to the Sweet 16 in 2017.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
• In five matches at home, Louisiana has outshot its opponents, 77-32, and has allowed one goal in over 475 minutes of play.
• Two of the top largest crowds in school history have occurred during the 2019 season.
• Against Southern on Sept. 5, the crowd of 486 was the fourth-largest for the Ragin' Cajuns with the announced attendance of 411 against Appalachian State ranking eighth.
• With an average attendance of 334 through five matches, Louisiana is on pace to set the highest average in school history.

CAJUNS TO BE SEEN ON CST/ESPN+
• Three of Louisiana's six home matches during the 2019 season will be available to nearly five millions homes with live coverage on New Orleans-based Cox Sports Television (CST).
• Matches against South Alabama (LIVE - Sept. 22), Georgia Southern (tape-delayed - Oct. 25) and Troy (LIVE - Oct. 27) will be televised and will be also available on ESPN+.
• Louisiana's other home matches - Southern (Sept. 5), Appalachian State (Oct. 4) and Coastal Carolina (Oct. 6) will be streamed live on the Ragin' Cajuns Digital Network.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana wraps up the regular-season at 3 p.m. on Sunday against Troy. The match will be televised live on Cox Sports TV and ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Facebook (Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Soccer), Twitter (@RaginCajunsSOC) and Instagram (@RaginCajuns_SOC), or check RaginCajuns.com for Louisiana soccer updates.

@RaginCajunsSOC Match 17 Preview: vs. Georgia Southern

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Players Mentioned

Rebecca Foley

Olivia Gelpi

Grace Howell-Harries

Mackenzie Lee

Gwen Mummert

Rainey Niles

Kaylie Powell

Annika Schmidt

Rachel Sutter

Skyla Sykes

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