Sept. 12, 2008

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Miss. - Louisiana Tech got scores from three different players, including the first successful penalty kick in Tech history, as the Lady Techsters used another stellar defensive effort to shut out Delta State Friday afternoon at Delta Field, 3-0.

"I was pretty pleased with the effort," Tech coach Kevin Sherry said. "Delta State was pretty good defensively, and we were very patient throughout the match. We didn't panic early on when we missed on a few chances. We kept playing our game, and it benefited us in the second half."

The Lady Techsters (4-1) continued their shutout streak, which has now reached four-plus games. The aggregate minutes of shutout soccer now totals 394:12 as Tech has not allowed a score since the season opener at North Texas. In five games, Tech has outscored its opposition 16-1. Delta State (3-2), which had outscored its previous three opponents by a 21-0 count, was unable to muster only one real scoring threat and, as such, was limited to only one shot on goal.

For the second straight outing, freshmen Cat Buchanan and Jean Bernard combined on a shutout. Again, a large portion of the credit goes to the Techster defense for not allowing any good looks at the goal, but the Lady Statesmen managed only two total shots in the game to Tech's 16.

Tech dominated possession for most of the game and had two great scoring chances in the first half, converting one late in the period. The first chance came in the 18th minute when Rachel King found an opening right up the middle with Olivia Lukasewich on the other side. But Lukasewich's one-on-one attempt with the keeper sailed just wide.

But a very similar play in the 37th minute turned out to be successful. King again found the opening in the middle of the Lady Statesman defense, but this time Kiva Gresham was on the other end of the pass and beat the keeper from inside the six-yard box for a 1-0 Tech lead.

The Lady Techsters would get a big break in the 64th minute when Katlyn Bachan was tackled in the 18-yard box on a shot attempt, resulting in a penalty kick. Senior Amy Wolsted was elected to take the attempt, and she made the most of it, going top-right corner to give Tech a 2-0 lead at 65:28. It was the first successful penalty kick attempt in Lady Techster soccer history.

Kat McCullough would provide an insurance goal in the 78th minute when she dribbled past three DSU defenders near the top of the box, created space and bent a beautiful shot inside the near post to give the Techsters a 3-0 advantage.

With the win, Tech improves to 5-0-1 all-time against non-Division I schools. The Techsters are 2-0 this season (Texas Woman's and Delta State), and have outscored their non-Division I opponents 30-2 over the five-year history of the program.

Tech was originally scheduled to play this game last Wednesday, but the remnants of Hurricane Gustav forced postponement until today. Interestingly enough, Tech's game scheduled for Sunday at Prairie View has also been postponed, this time because of the threat of Hurricane Ike as it moves inland in southeast Texas. That game will now be played Saturday, Oct. 4, in Prairie View.

The Lady Techsters will next take the field Tuesday as they make the short drive west to Grambling State. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.