The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns soccer team had their last full-week break of the season after a 0–0 tie with the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Oct. 17.
In a press conference held Oct. 21, Head Coach Chris McBride discussed the lack of finishes on the offensive end over the conference schedule to that point.
“I think that’s been the story of the year so far. We’ve created a lot of opportunities, we had 22 shots in the game, plenty enough to score a goal and we just didn’t capitalize,” McBride said.
Coach McBride expressed optimism in the team’s chances to make the Sun Belt Conference Championships. “There’s still plenty of games left. The conference is still wide open on who’s gonna make the tournament,” McBride said.
“Our goals still haven’t changed. We wanna make sure that we’re in the best possible position to qualify for the tournament and that starts off on Thursday at Southern Miss.”
“We just have to be able to be accountable for what we can control,” McBride said. “The weather, the opposition, the referees, none of that matters. It does not matter at all.”
“We control the game, what we do with the soccer ball, how we move off the ball, the energy that we bring, the determination, the grit, the perseverance, everything that we bring to the table. If we bring that, then we can control our destiny.”
On Thursday, Oct. 24, the Cajuns headed to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to take on their third-to-last conference opponent, the Mississippi State Golden Eagles. At 1–2–4 in conference, the Eagles are one of the teams in the way of the Cajuns’ SBC Tournament hopes.
The Golden Eagles scored first in the 29th minute off a penalty kick drawn by Rebeka Vega, just the third attempt allowed by the Cajuns this season.
Shaelynn Quick scored unassisted in the second half, curling in a left-side corner kick over the Cajuns keeper to extend the Eagles’ lead.
The Golden Eagles played with great chemistry on breakaways, drawing no offsides calls all match and generated eight clean shots on goal, including a great through pass to Vega to make their lead 3–0.
Down and playing with high pace most of the match, the Cajuns forwards and substitutes played a physical game, drawing 14 total fouls in the match but weren’t able to capitalize their set pieces like usual — besides one.
Junior forward Briana Henry played in heavy rotation in the match. After being subbed on in the 54th minute, she scored a tap-in goal off a deep free kick by Chloe Mueller with an extra pass by Lauren Bennett in the 68th.
Besides this, the Cajuns were outmaneuvered through the second half, unable to create a comeback and losing 4–1.
Next up for the Cajuns is a Thursday night Oct. 31 matchup against the Marshall Thundering Herd, followed by the first round of the SBC Championships on Monday, Nov. 4.
The tournament is still technically in play for the Cajuns, but it’s no guarantee. The field has been cut from the top 10 to the top eight teams of the conference this season.
The Cajuns will have to win out and hope for dropped games from Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe to claim the last seed against the No. 1 James Madison Dukes.