Southern Miss
Louisiana-Lafayette
Soccer Falls for First Time to Louisiana-Lafayette
8/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss soccer team suffered its first defeat of the season in a hard-fought 2-1 loss against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday afternoon at the Southern Miss Soccer Complex.
For the second game in a row, Southern Miss went down by two goals in the first half. The Golden Eagles once again battled in the second half, scoring a goal and outshooting the Ragin' Cajuns, 8-to-2, but were unable to tie the score.
Louisiana's first goal came in the seventh minute. Lindsay Brammer scored from the corner of the six yard box on an assist from Yazmin Montoya. The Cajuns' second goal was in the 37th minute, when Taylor Kennedy shot a 25-yard bomb over the head of Southern Miss keeper Brittany Taylor.
The lone goal for Southern Miss came in the 79th minute. Junior defender Kay Kay Hypolite took on the Cajun backline up the left sideline and drew a foul right outside the box. Freshman Aisa Ribbens took the free kick that slipped past Louisiana keeper Cosette Morche. It was Ribbens' first career goal.
Southern Miss used the momentum from the goal and continued to attack. The Golden Eagles finished the game with 17 shots; forcing Morche to make a massive 10 saves.
Freshman Stephanie Garcia led the Golden Eagles with four shots, while sophomore Becky McMullan followed with three. Sophomore Beth Coleman and junior Devin McGee added two shots apiece.
Taylor made one save in the first half before freshman Brittany Snyder took over between the pipes. The Southern Miss backline was solid in the second half, not allowing the Cajuns a single shot on goal.
Head Coach Mohammed El-Zare believes the Golden Eagles' first loss of the 2015 season is a learning opportunity for the players.
"We need to focus on not making so many mistakes and not turning the ball over in certain areas of the field," El-Zare said after the match. "We have to have more patience in the first 15 minutes and be able to hold the ball and slow the game down a little. And that comes with experience.
"The effort that they are giving is outstanding. They've done what I'm asking of them in terms of leaving it all on the field. We'll get back to work on Tuesday. It's about the process of getting better every week."
The Golden Eagles play again Friday, Sept. 4 at Southern and Sunday, Sept. 6 at Mississippi State. Both games kick off at 6:00 p.m.
