LA Tech game notes

RUSTON ââ'¬" The Louisiana Tech soccer team faces a big challenge this week having to go up against the two teams picked to finish first and second in the Conference USA preseason poll.

Starting off will be a home matchup against Rice on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Lady Techster Soccer Complex. The team will then travel to the Lone Star State where they will take on North Texas on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Mean Green Soccer Stadium.

LA Tech (9-1-1, 1-0 C-USA) has a lot of momentum going into the first full week of league action, having won seven straight matches including a 3-0 shutout win at Southern Miss to earn three points.

"North Texas and Rice are two of the best teams in the league and some players want to compete against the best," head coach Kevin Sherry said. "There should be no nerves which will allow us to go out there and enjoy ourselves and play with more freedom. We hope we have many players that will enjoy the challenge that we face."

The Lady Techsters will need to take advantage of every scoring opportunity they get from strikers like Kathryn Sloan, Mylene Roy-Ouellet and Jenna Dages who have combined to score 15 goals this season.

There will also be the added importance of staying organized on defense and getting a strong effort from in net by Kylee Seto who has pitched three shutouts this season.

Rice (3-3-1, 0-1 C-USA), chosen to win the league by the head coaches in the preseason, has wins over Memphis, Sam Houston State and Houston Baptist this season. Anchoring the Owls is preseason all-conference midfielder Jenny Fichera who leads the team with seven points.

The reigning C-USA regular season and tournament champion North Texas (6-3-1, 1-0 C-USA) opened the year with a five-match winning streak. The Mean Green is coming off a 2-1 road victory at Rice to open league play. They are led by offensive player of the year Rachel Holden who has the second most goals scored in the league with seven.

LA Tech has never beaten Rice on the pitch, trailing the all-time series 3-0. The Lady Techsters last played the Owls in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament in 2014 which resulted in a 1-0 loss.

Similarly, the team had lost all three meetings to North Texas until they pulled out a 1-0 victory in the regular season finale last year to help qualify for the league tourney.

Both matches will be streamed live on CUSA.TV. Fans can also follow @LATechSOC on Twitter for live in-game updates.

All home games are free admission. For those in attendance, parking will not be available at the Lady Techster Softball Complex. Fans are encouraged to park across Alabama Ave. at Joe Aillet Stadium.