Louisiana Soccer Faces McNeese In Exhibition Match

LAFAYETTE – The third year of the Lance Key era begins on Friday for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer team when it travels west to Lake Charles to face in-state rival McNeese in an exhibition match on Friday at Cowgirl Field.

Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. A live video stream (paid subscription required) and live results will be available at RaginCajuns.com.

Louisiana, which will officially opens its season on Aug. 20 at home against Prairie View, returns 15 players and seven starters from a 10-9-1 squad during a fluid 2020-21 season. The Ragin' Cajuns reached the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships for a second consecutive year.

Lizzie Mayfield (6 goals, 6 assists), Karleen Bedre (3 goals, 4 assists) and Hailey Hoffmann (3 goals) are Louisiana's top returning scorers with goalkeepers Lauryn Starwood (1.08 goals against average) and Jordan Higgins (1.19 goals against average) the top returning goalkeepers.

Mayfield, last year's Sun Belt Conference and LSWA Newcomer of the Year, highlighted preseason honors for the Ragin' Cajuns as she was named to the Preseason All-SBC squad. Bolstering the squad includes 15 newcomers with a trio of Division I transfers – forward Gracie Vargas (Fresno State), defender Anna Grassinger (Creighton) and goalkeeper Libby Harper (Akron).

Seven of the 15 newcomers bring an international background to the Ragin' Cajuns program highlighted by Ruthny Mathurin – a member of the Haitian National Team. Grassinger (Germany) and Harper (England) are also joined by Carolina Rodriguez and Alexandra Folchert (Spain), Petra Buyck (New Zealand) and Laura Hansen (Denmark) are all first-year players for the Ragin' Cajuns.

Louisiana, picked to finish fifth in the SBC Coaches' Poll, will host nine matches at home including non-conference contests against Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 3), Houston (Sept. 5) and LSU (Sept. 9).

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

Louisiana Soccer Faces McNeese In Exhibition Match

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Players Mentioned

Karleen Bedre

Petra Buyck

Alex Folchert

Anna Grassinger

Laura Hansen

Libby Harper

Jordan Higgins

Hailey Hoffmann

Ruthny Mathurin

Lizzie Mayfield

Carol Rodriguez

Lauryn Starwood

Gracie Vargas

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