Nicholls Defeats McNeese State in Southland Soccer Tournament
BEAUMONT, Texas – In the first round match of the 2014 Southland Conference Soccer Tournament, No. 5 seed Nicholls defeated No. 4 seed McNeese State, 1-0, at Lamar Soccer Complex on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
At the end of the first half both teams took six shots, but McNeese State’s and Nicholls’ goalkeepers combined for eight saves to leave the two teams scoreless.
Spencer Valdespino of Nicholls scored in the 71st minute of the second half for the lone goal of the game.
The Cowgirls took two shots on goal in an attempt to tie the game, but came up short as time ran out.
McNeese State completes the season with an 8-10-1 overall record while Nicholls improves to 10-9-0.
Nicholls advances to the semifinals for and will face regular season champion and No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin tomorrow at 7p.m. In the regular season matchup, the Ladyjacks won 3-1 in Thibodaux, La.
2014 Southland Soccer Tournament Post-Game Quotes
Match 1 – #4 McNeese State vs. #5 Nicholls
Nicholls Head Coach Dylan Harrison
On how the team competed tonight
“We knew coming in that we were going to put in a good effort. We had a close game with them the first time we played them this year. It’s always tough to beat a good team twice I think and so the fact that they had already gotten us once this year just set up for us to go in and go at them and we got the result.”
On what was going through your mind on the late second-half goal
“Well we knew dealing with the conditions out here that the wind is pretty stiff, so we knew going in the first half if we kept it close we were going to have the wind in the second half. So we knew we were going to get some opportunities and it was a great goal.”
Nicholls Forward Spencer Valdespino
On the game-winning goal
“Well at first I felt bad because I took it from my teammate. I thought she had a better run. I’m pretty sure I apologized during my shot but in total honesty I was really tired. I saw three players in front of me, I thought I’d just take a shot and see what it did. It wasn’t a clean shot, it did get tipped off of one of their feet. Just one of those nights, it goes in I guess.”
On getting the win over the better seed, what kind of momentum does this give you
“Extreme momentum. We came here last year and lost. Coming here and winning I think our mindset is completely different right now. We don’t really look into seeding that much, we just see our opponent and we want to win, that’s about it.”