Louisiana Faces A-State In Sun Belt Soccer Semifinals

FOLEY, Ala. – After an emotional 3-0 victory over Troy in the first round of the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Women's Soccer Championships, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Friday when it meets third-seeded Arkansas State in a semifinal match at the Foley Sports Complex.

Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. The match will be available at ESPN+ with live stats available at CajunStats.com.

Louisiana (9-7-3), the No. 7 seed, received goals from Karleen Bedre, Gwen Mummert and Rachel Sutter in securing the first-ever postseason victory in the program's 20-year history, and its first-ever win in the month of November.

Mackenzie Lee collected five saves while facing 16 shots in helping lead Louisiana to its school-record eighth shutout of the season.

Arkansas State (9-5-4) advanced to the semifinals after defeating sixth-seeded Texas State in a penalty kick shootout, 4-1. The Red Wolves claimed the earlier meeting against Louisiana with a 1-0 victory on Sept. 27 on a penalty kick in the 62^nd minute.

The winner will advance to the Sun Belt Conference Championship match on Sunday against the winner between top-seeded South Alabama and fifth-seeded Georgia State.

MATCH INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (9-7-3) vs. ARKANSAS STATE (9-5-4)
Date/Time: November 8, 2019 / 4 p.m.
Site: Foley, Ala.
Facility (Surface): Foley Sports Complex (grass)

LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS
Video: ESPN+
Talent: Drew Fellios (pxp), Jordan Angeli (color)
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsSOC | #GeauxCajuns

WEATHER FORECAST (via Weather.com)
Friday: Cloudy | High: 62° | Winds: N 10-20 mph | Rain: 10%
At kickoff: Cloudy | 58° | Wind: N 11 mph | Rain: 5%

SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Louisiana leads, 12-9
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 6-3
At Jonesboro: Louisiana leads, 6-5
At Neutral: Arkansas State leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Arkansas State, 1-0 (9/27/2019 at Jonesboro)

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Lance Key (Trinity, 2000)
Record at Louisiana: 9-7-3 (first season), Career Record: 219-28-19 (13th season)

ARKANSAS STATE
Head Coach: Brian Dooley (Nova Southeastern, 1987)
Record at A-State: 35-40-13 (fifth season), Career Record: 215-164-34 (23rd season)

JUST FOR KICKS ...
• Louisiana, playing its 20th season of intercollegiate soccer, makes its first-ever appearance in the Sun Belt Conference semifinals after a 3-0 victory over Troy on Wednesday.
• The win over Troy was the Ragin' Cajuns first-ever victory in the Sun Belt Conference in 14 matches and the school's first-ever win in the month of November after entering the month with an 0-15 record.
• The match against Arkansas State will be the 22nd meeting between the schools, and longest series for the Ragin' Cajuns in school history.
• Friday's match against A-State will be the second between the schools in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the Red Wolves claiming a 2-1 victory in 2013.
• Louisiana's win over Troy clinched the first-winning for the Ragin' Cajuns since a 9-8-2 record in 2014.
• The nine wins by Louisiana under Lance Key are the most by a first-year coach in Ragin' Cajuns history, breaking the previous mark (4, Scot Wieland) in 2005.
• Louisiana's eight shutouts during the 2019 season are the most in school history, breaking the previous mark (7) set in 2010.
• Louisiana has allowed three first-half goals in its last 17 matches.

BENDING THE BALL ...
• Sophomore Gwen Mummert was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference on Tuesday, becoming the first Ragin' Cajuns defender to earn postseason honors since Grace Howell-Harries in 2014.
• Mummert's goal on a penalty kick against Troy was her single-season, school-record fourth and one off the career mark (5) set by Yazmin Montoya (2013-16).
• 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 four wins in October were one more than the total by the Ragin' Cajuns from 2015-18.
• Karleen Bedre recorded the first multi-goal game by a Ragin' Cajun since Ashleigh Cade against Georgia Southern on Sept. 24, 2017.
• Bedre and Skyla Skyes' three game-winning goals in 2019 are tied for the most in a single-season in school history, set eight times previously (last Annika Schmidt and Whitney Taggart in 2016).
• The Ragin' Cajuns were 5-1-1 at home in 2019 and allowed three goals all season.
• Two of the three goals allowed at home by the Ragin' Cajuns were in a five-minute span against Troy in the regular-season finale on Oct. 27.
• The five shutouts by Louisiana at home in 2019 tied the single-season record that was previously 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'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 37 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.
• Kobi McNutt posted the first multi-assist game of her career against Georgia Southern.
• 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.
• Lee's 1.17 goals against average in 2019 is the lowest in school history.
• With 17 career victories between the posts, Lee moved past Morche into second place on the Ragin' Cajuns all-time list.
• Lee is 55 minutes shy of becoming the third goalkeeper in Ragin' Cajuns history to record 4,000 minutes in a career.
• Louisiana's eight shutouts in 2019 are the most in school history..
• The Ragin' Cajuns current 1.14 goals against average is on pace to be the lowest in school history, shattering the previous record (1.32) set in 2010.

SURPRIS ADDED TO COACHING STAFF
• Louisiana head coach Lance Key announced on Oct. 24 the addition of Chelsea Surpris (pronounced soo-PREE) to the coaching staff.
• Surpris played in 60 matches with 42 starts during her career at Texas from 2015-18, helping the Longhorns to 43 wins and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
• The Crowley, Texas native logged over 4,500 minutes of playing time 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.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Friday's match will advance to the Sun Belt Conference championship match on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the winner of top-seeded South Alabama and fifth-seeded Georgia State.

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.

Louisiana Faces A-State In Sun Belt Soccer Semifinals

Players Mentioned

Karleen Bedre

Olivia Gelpi

Grace Howell-Harries

Mackenzie Lee

Kobi McNutt

Yazmin Montoya

Gwen Mummert

Rainey Niles

Kaylie Powell

Annika Schmidt

Rachel Sutter

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics