Sam Houston wraps road trip Friday
10/5/2017 8:05:00 AM | Soccer
Match 12
Friday, Oct. 6 • 7:00 PM • Natchitoches, La. • Demon Soccer Complex
Sam Houston State (4-7-0, 1-4-0) vs. Northwestern State (5-7-0, 1-4-0)
Live Stats • @BearkatsSOC on Twitter
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Sam Houston State looks to get back on track this Friday, closing its three-match road trip at Northwestern State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
After knocking off A&M-Corpus Christi, 2-0, two Friday's ago, Sam Houston has gone into a bit of a funk. The Bearkats have lost three-straight Southland Conference matches including a pair a weekend ago at Lamar and McNeese – who own the top two spots in the league standings.
Sam Houston has struggled late offensively. The team, which ranked second in the league a week ago in goals per match, has fallen to fifth (1.82) after being on the wrong end of shutouts against Houston Baptist and McNeese.
The Kats are looking to rebound after dropping its last two matches against the Demons – both of which were decided in overtime. A season ago, Sam Houston tied the match at 2-2 four minutes into the second half before eventually falling, 3-2 in double overtime.
After a strong weekend offensively, Sam Houston's Taylor Pritchard looks to continue her impressive surge. The sophomore forward notched the lone goal last Friday at Lamar – the second of her season – and has moved ahead to second on the team in shots (18) and shots on goal (11).
Meanwhile, Carlota Suarez Crespo enters Friday ranking four in the conference with five goals while Beryl Smith is eighth with four and Lexi Bullard's ranks eighth in assists (3). The unit will look to capitalize against a Demons defense that is tied for last in the league, allowing 2.17 per match.
Sam Houston will have Sunday off before returning home next Friday to take on Nicholls. The match, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., will be the first of two on the weekend with Southeastern Louisiana coming to town for a 1 p.m. tilt on Sunday.
QUOTEABLES:
Head coach Tom Brown on the mindset of the team and practice this week…
“We have taken a couple of days off to recover and get refreshed for the game. Wednesday's training went very well. We have continued to work on areas to make us better and to be prepared for our game on Friday.”
Head coach Tom Brown on improvements focused on after last weekend…
“We will be getting Briana Woodall back from her injury this weekend. We are continuing to work on playing through our midfield and keeping our lines connected through them. We have not been scoring a lot of goals the past two weeks and need to get our confidence back in the final third of the field.”
Head coach Tom Brown on facing Northwestern State and wrapping up the road trip…
“Northwestern State always plays very well at home. We have had some disappointing results there in the past few years and hope to turn that around this weekend. George always has his team playing hard and creating problems for visiting teams.”
