Sept. 5, 2009
RUSTON, La. -- When the Louisiana Tech women's soccer team begins play against Southern on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lady Techster Soccer Field, they will start a four-game homestand, their longest of the season.
Coming off a 4-0 victory over Nicholls State on Friday, the Lady Techsters enter Sunday's match with a perfect 4-0-0 record. Their four wins without a loss or tie signifies the best start by a team in the program's history. Southern dropped a 4-0 decision to Jacksonville State on Friday. The Lady Jaguars now stand at a record of 0-4-0 on the year.
"We played very relaxed during our game against Prairie View A&M [on Wednesday]," Tech head coach Kevin Sherry said. "Since we were lackadaisical, we decided to change our personnel and that caused a reaction. We don't want to go back to that level. We need to continue pushing forward. We can't settle with what we have accomplished so far. We need to continue doing the things we do well. The more times we do those things well, the more it comes automatic and that's what we want."
Following Tech's win on Friday, Sherry announced that Kat McCullough has been named a co-captain of the team for the remainder of the season. Sherry said it was a reward for her great play and leadership. McCullough joins Kiva Gresham as Tech's two captains.
LA Tech currently boasts the best record in the Western Athletic Conference. The squad also ranks first in nearly all offensive categories, including shots (79), goals (15), assists (13), points (43), goals per game (3.75), assists per game (3.25) and corners won (30). Defensively, they rank first in fewest goals allowed (3), goals against average (0.72) and shutouts (2).
Rachel King's back-to-back hat trick performances catapulted her to the top of the league's statistics. She leads the conference in shots (21), points (13) and goals (6). Gresham is the league leader in assists (3), and Olivia Lukasewich ranks first in game-winning goals (2).
Tech's goalkeepers, Cat Buchanan and Aly Dicker, are at the top in numerous categories as well. Dicker leads the conference in goals against average (0.00) and Buchanan is second (1.16). Buchanan is tied for the league lead with one shutout. Dicker ranks first with a perfect save percentage (1.000).
After Tech takes on Southern, they will welcome Centenary Sept. 11 and Delta State Sept. 13 before they wrap up their stint at home with their rescheduled match against Grambling State Sept. 15.
Admission to all Lady Techster soccer home games is free. Concessions are available. For more information on Lady Techster Soccer, please visit the official home of LA Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
