Redshirt junior midfielder Maggie Ramsey scored her fourth goal of the season against Stephen F. Austin State University. However, the Lady Lions lost the game 3-1. Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar
The Lady Lions soccer team lost both their matches in Texas this past weekend. The team lost 3-1 to Stephen F. Austin State University Ladyjacks followed by a 2-0 loss to Sam Houston State University. The first game took place at Nacogdoches, TX, and despite an equalizer from redshirt junior midfielder Maggie Ramsey in the 34th minute, a pair of second half goals sealed the win for the Ladyjacks.
Head Coach Christopher McBride praised the players despite the loss.
“The players did well,” said McBride. “We put up a really good match against a really good team. In the first half, we did very well. We battled well and had possession of the ball really well for the last 20 minutes. Then the second half came, and they scored two really good goals from distance and finished the game off.”
McBride discussed the improvements from th previous game.
“We were more clinical with our chances,” said McBride. “We had 100 percent of our shots on target. We created better opportunities for us, and this allowed us to go into their half when the game was tied 1-1.”
Ramsey was happy with the performance of her team.
“As a team, we definitely put up a fight against a very good team,” said Ramsey. “We didn’t give up even though we kept getting scored on. We fought all 90 minutes.”
Ramsey led the team with four goals this season.
“The goal was definitely a confidence boost to me for the rest of the season and the conference tournament,” said Ramsey.
The second game ended with disappointment after Sam Houston scored two goals early in the game. This loss resulted in the team dropping to 10th position in the Southland Conference.
Even though the Lady Lions took 13 shots, they couldn’t score a goal due to excellent defending from the Bearkats, and the coach acknowledged that.
“It was a tough game,” said McBride. “Sam Houston was defensively organized very well. They don’t concede many goals at whole. So, after going down a goal, it was going to be very hard to get back up against a team defensively organized.”
The Lady Lions are currently on a three-game losing streak and hope to overturn that.
“We’ll just concentrate on the next game” said McBride. “We will go into practice next week, and we’ll work our practice schedule, make sure we work some stuff to stop the opposition, and get some positive performances from the lions.”
The university will host Northwestern State University on Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m., and University of Central Arkansas on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. This will be the last home game of the season for the team. Friday’s match is the “Geaux Pink” game where fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.