RUSTON – The Bulldogs picked up their first win of the 2025 season as well as their first clean sheet following a 2-0 shutout over the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns at The Mack Thursday night. This was the 'Dogs' first shutout since ending a match against Kennesaw State to a scoreless draw on September 26, 2024.
The Bulldogs were held without a shot through the first 34 minutes of the match before
Abby Hanton forced a turnover along the boundary line near midfield before dishing the ball to junior captain
Madison Pensom. Pensom dribbled herself into the box before firing a shot in frame in the lower left corner, where freshman
Peyton Wiseman received the rebound and put her first collegiate score in the back of the net to give the 'Dogs a 1-0 lead and Pensom her second assist of the year.
LA Tech kept UL-Lafayette's offensive attack at bay despite being outshot 7-3 in the first half. Senior keeper
Cadence Rutledge had an outstanding night in the box, picking up her fifth career clean sheet and second career win with five saves.
UL-Lafayette created several chances around the 70-minute mark but were able to only get off one shot that landed in Rutledge's hands.
Grace Clay was able to flick the ball past a defender that lost her footing and a sliding UL-Lafayette goalkeeper, but the touch was too hard and rolled past the boundary line for a goal kick. A few minutes later, a yellow card was drawn on a Ragin' Cajun defender just outside of the penalty area to give the 'Dogs a pristine opportunity for a brace.
Reagan Roberts lasered a shot that ricocheted off the top frame in the 83rd minute, just missing out on a chance for her second goal. Seconds away from going into the 86th minute, midfielder
Shani Sirota was served a pass from defender
Alexandria Weatherspoon after she intercepted a clearance from the UL-Lafayette keeper.
A quick pass to Sirota was made has the Akron transfer turned, set her feet and fired a shot nearly 20 yards outside of the box, hitting the top bar and spinning into the back of the net for the brace. It was the first brace scored by a Bulldog since October 15, 2023, against Middle Tennessee.
The Bulldogs now look ahead to their first road trip of the season, kicking off a five-match road stretch beginning with South Alabama on Sunday, August 24 at 1 p.m. in Mobile, Ala.
Head Coach Steve Voltz following Louisiana Tech's win over UL-Lafayette:
"I'm excited for our women. We talked a lot during the week and especially during pregame today about the standard. What is the standard? And we lived up to it [tonight]. Physically, we've been pretty invested in the first three games. Not maybe the focus all the time—a couple mistakes. [We] didn't make as many, still made some, but we also took advantage of one of theirs early on, got up 1-0. The free kick by Reagan—I'd love to see the replay, I don't know if that was in but then Shani had a similar one, and then we saw it out. We were clever, we competed, we battled. Just to watch our freshmen come in and do so well—they're going to struggle still, there's going to be ups and downs for a young group like this. But, the ceiling for this group is extremely high."
Coach Voltz on the program's 100th win:
"It means we've won 100 games at home in the last 24 years, and that's awesome but we want more. It's always good to have a record and continue to set the standard like that. For us now, we're going to go on the road for first time and it's going to be super tough down there in Mobile against South Alabama. So now, can we bring that same energy after getting on the bus and after getting an emotional win tonight against a very good UL-Lafayette side, against a rival—a future rival in the Sun Belt, so can we now match that energy on the road? That's up to our staff and our leadership to figure it out, but it means a lot. Any time you win a college soccer game, it means a lot."
Coach Voltz on the collective effort from the attacking, midfield play and defense:
"Cadence, one of our seniors, she owned her mistake on Sunday after the game and apologized for it and then she made a couple good saves and kept us in the game and earned the shutter, and that's what leadership is all about. You show up the next time you have an opportunity—you don't dwell on the past. You show up and say, 'Hey, I'm going to have your back now,' and she got the shutout and we're super proud of her as well. Overall, defensively we made some changes and everybody who came in did really, really well. Reagan played her first game at left back as a freshman
Alexe Drolet is a freshman left center back, Mary Helen Burford is a sophomore and then we had
Madeline Gray and Alex Weatherspoon split time on the right side. Neither of them are old, they are also sophomores. So, look how young our back line is and how they withstood the pressure from a really, really talented team. Midfield, I thought we did okay. Shani certainly helped out with the goal. I think we gave the ball away a little too easy at times up front, but the work was great. It was super dynamic; it was fun to watch. But we got the job done at the end of the day."
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