Louisiana Travels To Face Former SBC Rivals FAU, FIU

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Women's Soccer team closes out a four-match road trip beginning on Thursday when it travels to face former Sun Belt Conference rival Florida Atlantic at the FAU Soccer Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT. The match will be streamed live on FAUSports.com with live stats available at CajunStats.com.

Louisiana (3-0-1), off to its best start in school history, faces another big test before opening Sun Belt Conference play next month beginning with its first meeting against FAU (1-1-2) since the 2012 season. After facing FAU, the Ragin' Cajuns will remain in south Florida before facing another former SBC rival – Florida International (3-1-0) – in Miami on Sunday morning.

The Ragin' Cajuns notched their third consecutive shutout and extended their string of not allowing a goal to 301 minutes on the season after a 1-0 victory at Stephen F. Austin last Sunday.

Sisley Stephens' team-high, second goal of the season was enough for Louisiana while Makenna Garcia faced 28 shots and posted a career-high nine saves in improving her record to 3-0-0 on the season.

Stephens (2 goals, 1 assist, 5 points) and freshman Sophie Placke (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points) lead Louisiana in scoring through the first four matches. Bailey Giddings, Emma Bates, Megan Bradley and Anneliese Switzer have each scored goals for the Ragin' Cajuns with Karleen Bedre and Mary Meuth credited with one assist.

FAU, ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches South Region poll, opened the season with draws against Little Rock and Miami before dropping a 3-0 contest at Oklahoma State on Aug. 24.

The Owls earned their first win of the season on Sunday with a 3-0 win at home over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where Sloane Young, Drew Dempsey and Elin Simonardottir each scored goals.

Simonardottir has scored three goals on the season for FAU with Molly Setsma leading the team with three assists. Blythe Braun has posted a 1.35 goals against average for the Owls.

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

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

MATCH INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (3-0-1) at FLORIDA ATLANTIC (1-1-2)
Date / Time: August 31, 2023/ 6 p.m. CT
Site: Boca Raton, Florida
Stadium: FAU Soccer Stadium (Grass)

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Chris McBride
Record at Louisiana: 6-9-6 (second season); Overall Record: 37-51-21 (seventh season)

FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Head Coach: Patrick Baker
Record at FAU: 97-75-28 (11^th season); Overall Record: 342-237-58 (33^rd season)

VIDEO/LIVE STATS/SOCIAL UPDATES
Live Video Stream: FAUSports.com
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsSOC
Hashtag: #GeauxCajuns

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Series tied, 4-4-0
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 2-1-0
At Boca Raton: FAU leads, 3-2-0
Streak: FAU +1

SET PIECES
• Louisiana makes a trip to the Sunshine State to face a pair of former Sun Belt Conference rivals - Florida Atlantic and Florida International.
• The matches against FAU and FIU - both ranked in the United Soccer Coaches South Region - are the last of three for Louisiana against schools from the state of Florida this season.
• Louisiana opened its home schedule with a 2-0 win over South Florida on Aug. 20.
• The Ragin' Cajuns and FAU meet for the ninth time overall and first time since 2012 with the Owls claiming a 2-1 victory.
• Louisiana's 3-0-1 start is its best four-match start in school history with the 2010 squad starting 3-1-0.
• Makenna Garcia has posted three consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal in 315 minutes for Louisiana.
• Six of Louisiana's seven goals in 2023 have been scored by reserves.
• The freshman trio of Sophie Placke, Anneliese Switzer and Bailey Giddings each recorded their first collegiate goals in last Thursday's win at Grambling.
• The Ragin' Cajuns open with five of their first six regular-season matches on the road.
• Louisiana finished 2-0-0 in its exhibition slate earning road wins over in-state opponents McNeese (2-1) and Northwestern State (1-0).
• Louisiana returns 17 players from the 2022 roster and eight starters for second-year coach Chris McBride.
• Before being named the fourth head coach in school history in February of 2022, McBride spent five seasons at in-state program Southeastern Louisiana where he guided the Lady Lions to an NCAA Regional berth.
• Super Senior Karleen Bedre enters the season ranked in the top five in school history in matches started (76), points (56), goals (19), assists (18), match-winning goals (6) and penalty kicks made (2).
• Bedre enters the weekend second behind South Alabama's Gracie Wilson among active Sun Belt Conference players in points, goals and assists.
• Bedre is third overall among active SBC players in shot attempts (109).
• Bedre's five assists in 2022 were tied for the fifth most in a single season in school history.

UPCOMING MILESTONES/BY THE NUMBERS
• 1 - Goals needed by Karleen Bedre to become the fifth player in school history with 20+ goals in a career.
• 2 - Sets of sisters on the 2022 squad - Mariella and Sisley Stephens; Gabi and Sophie Placke.
• 3 - Points by Karleen Bedre to tie Annika Schmidt (59, 2013-16) for second in school history.
• 5 - Assists needed by Karleen Bedre to tie Ashleigh Cade (23, 2014-17) for the most in school history.
• 11 - Matches played at Southern Miss in 2021 by JUCO newcomer Lauren Bennett.
• 12 - Points by Karleen Bedre to pass Yazmin Montoya (67, 2013-16) for first place.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana concludes its trip to the Sunshine State on Sunday at Florida International in an 11 a.m. (ET) contest.
• Louisiana then returns home for a pair of matches beginning on Sept. 7 against Alcorn State before hosting Southland Conference member Lamar in its non-conference finale on Sept. 10.
• The Ragin' Cajuns will then kick off Sun Belt Conference play on Sept. 17 at Texas State before traveling to face Old Dominion on Sept. 21.

Louisiana Travels To Face Former SBC Rivals FAU, FIU

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Players Mentioned

Emma Bates

Karleen Bedre

Lauren Bennett

Megan Bradley

Makenna Garcia

Bailey Giddings

Sophie Placke

Sisley Stephens

Anneliese Switzer

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