Kats return to Pritchett for two SLC matches
10/15/2015 9:59:00 AM | Soccer
Sam Houston State soccer returns to Pritchett Field on Friday after a three-game road swing that saw the Bearkats go 2-1, playing to overtime in two of those matches.
The Bearkats' (7-5-1 overall, 4-2 Southland) lone loss of the road trip came in the final 10 seconds of double overtime in its match to Northwestern State. SHSU's first chance to recover from that loss is Friday versus Southeastern Louisiana (9-3-1 overall, 4-2 Southland).
The Lions enter Huntsville after improving to 6-0-0 on the season at home with a 3-2 win over Lamar last Friday. SHSU will have a test on defense in limiting Southland Conference leading scorer Gisenia Utreras, who has tallied 10 goals in 13 matches on the season.
“Southeastern Louisiana is a very direct team, and we expect them to put us under a lot of pressure,” eighth-year head coach Tom Brown said. “I feel if we can score some early goals, we can relieve some of the late pressure we have had to play against in our last few games.”
Each of the Bearkats' six league matches this season has been decided by one goal. Three of those six matches have gone to overtime. The Kats will have a quick turnaround from Friday's game as the Bearkats host another conference opponent in Nicholls (3-8-1 overall, 1-5 Southland) two days later.
“We expect two very tough games this weekend,” Brown said. “The conference [has] been really close, and we want to get two wins to keep us in the top of the conference and on a path to earn a playoff spot. Nicholls has a couple of special players that we will have to try and contain.”
Brown added that his offense has continued to work on finishing the chances they have created while his defenders have trained on dealing with some of the direct balls the Kats' opponents like to play heading into the back-to-back home contests.
“Our team enjoys playing at home in front of our fans,” Brown said. “These will be two very important games and we hope to have some good support.”
Kickoff for Friday's match against SLU is 6:30 p.m. while Sunday's match to Nicholls State will start at 1 p.m.
