Last Season in Review

Scoring chances were few and far between for both Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana in the 2019 season opener, but Elizabeth Doll struck early in the second half with a diving header to help give the Lady Techsters a 1-0 shutout win on Friday night inside Strawberry Stadium.

The two teams combined for just three shot attempts in the first half. Yet, three minutes into the second period the upperclassmen combo of Jaelyn Peeples and Doll connected for what would be the game-winning goal.

Amber Posthauer netted a single-game program record six goals, one shy of tying the NCAA record, as Louisiana Tech overpowered short-handed Alcorn State by a final score of 15-0 at Spinks-Casem Stadium.

As if that was not enough, the junior midfielder was also credited with two assists, bringing her point total to 14 which is also a new single-game program record. She also set records for shots (19) and shots on goal (11).

As for the single-game team records, here is the list of those that were set by the LA Tech program – 43 points, 15 goals, 10 first-half goals, 13 assists and 15-goal margin of victory.

Friday night’s dominant 5-1 win by the Louisiana Tech soccer team over ULM at Brown Stadium was not just the fifth win of the season for the Lady Techsters, it was also the 150th victory in the program’s 16-year history.

LA Tech scored two header goals off corner kicks in the first half. They then scored three goals in the span of 10 minutes in the second half, one coming off another set piece and the other two being a rebound goal and a 1v1 win against the opposing keeper.

They trailed twice on Friday night in their home opener. And not only were the Lady Techsters able to equalize both times, the team ended up getting a golden goal by Connor Barker deep into the second overtime period to pull out a 3-2 thriller over McNeese State at Ruston Junior High School.

McNeese State’s Havana Johnson scored on both goals for the Cowgirls to give them leads of 1-0 and 2-1. However, it was Autumn Woodard and Quinn Parks who netted the equalizers, followed by Barker’s game-winner in the 106th minute on a hot and humid night at LA Tech’s temporary home.

“We will come back better and stronger” was a phrase echoed throughout the Louisiana Tech campus in the immediate days and weeks following the April 25 tornado that damaged or destroyed many of the athletic facilities.

Nearly five months later, the phrase still rings loud as LA Tech graduate Tim Cutt, ‘83-Peotroleum Engineering, and his wife Carolyn have donated $250,000 in honor of former Petroleum Engineering professor Dr. Robert Caruthers to assist in the rebuilding of the Lady Techster Soccer Complex.

Despite having not played for 16 days, the Louisiana Tech soccer team used the same recipe to generate yet another victory.

On offense, it was goal-scoring Autumn Woodard who found the back of the net twice. And on defense, it was the back line who stood tall against a strong opposition. The combination of the two resulted in the Lady Techsters pulling off a 2-1 victory over Old Dominion on Friday afternoon at the ODU Soccer Complex.

LA Tech pushed its unbeaten streak to 16 while registering three points in its first conference match of the season. They also ran their unbeaten streak versus ODU to six while improving their record to a perfect 4-0 in Norfolk versus the Monarchs.

For the 12th straight year, the Louisiana Tech soccer team received the Team Academic Award, an award handed out annually by the United Soccer Coaches for exemplary performance in the classroom.

LA Tech, led by 13-year head coach Kevin Sherry, was one of 644 women’s collegiate soccer programs to earn the Team

Academic Award for the 2018-19 academic year. It is given to teams with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster.

If there was an award for “Most Adaptable” women’s soccer team, Louisiana Tech would make a good case for winning it.

Forced to play at another new home venue – James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium on the campus of Ruston High School – the Lady Techsters overcame the adversity and took down the Florida Atlantic Owls by a final score of 1-0 in overtime on Friday afternoon.

It was a tale of two halves as LA Tech had the better scoring opportunities in the first half, but defending C-USA champion FAU flipped the script and controlled much of possession for the second period.

Regardless, the match was scoreless after regulation and went into overtime. And it was Autumn Woodard who came up big, netting the golden goal as the Lady Techsters ended the top-20 RPI Owls six-game winning streak.

Louisiana Tech was down six starters due to injury on Sunday against Rice. The Lady Techsters were also down 2-0 with 19 minutes left in regulation.

There were other odds stacked against them too, like having never beaten the Owls in their previous six tries and they were coming off a hard-fought loss two days ago while Rice was on a bye and well rested.

Needless to say, it was a herculean effort by LA Tech who managed to tie the game up with two late goals and ultimately came away with a 2-2 draw on James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium.

Rice was destined for the road win after scoring twice within a span of three minutes around the midway point of the second period.

LA Tech got one back in the 72nd minute off a set piece that was punched in by Connor Barker and later got the equalizer on the 85th minute from Amber Posthauer on a crazy angle from the right flank.

It sounds like a broken record, but Autumn Woodard provided some more magic on the soccer pitch.

The sophomore striker netted two goals on Friday afternoon, the last one being a golden goal in overtime, which handed Louisiana Tech a 2-1 victory over Southern Miss at the USM Soccer Complex.

Her seventh game-winning goal of the season, another program record, was extra special as it gave LA Tech three points to bring its league total to 16 which is enough to qualify the team for the Conference USA Tournament for a sixth straight year.

Louisiana Tech senior Kaylee Zettler was named to the 2019 Conference USA Women’s Soccer All-Academic Team, announced by the league office.

Zettler was part of the 11-person second team, becoming the sixth Lady Techster in program history to earn C-USA AllAcademic honors. The defender from Meridian, Mississippi has a 3.83 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Biology. She was a C-USA Academic Medalist and C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient the last academic year after transferring from William Carey.

After helping the Louisiana Tech soccer team record 13 wins during the regular season and qualify for its sixth straight Conference USA Tournament, Autumn Woodard, Elizabeth Doll and Josie Studer earned Conference USA honors in a vote by the league head coaches.

The sophomore Woodard was one of four forward to receive first team honors. She becomes the third Lady Techster in program history to be named First Team AllConference USA.

Doll, a junior defender, was named to the third team for a second straight season. And fellow defender Studer was named to the All-Freshman Team, the sixth time in the last seven years LA Tech has had a player selected as a newcomer.

Louisiana Tech’s Autumn Woodard and Elizabeth Doll were selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region for Division I Women’s Soccer.

Both earned third-team honors after helping LA Tech to a 13-4-3 overall record and a Conference USA Tournament appearance, the sixth straight for the program.

For the fourth time in the program’s 16-year history, Louisiana Tech women’s soccer claimed two top Louisiana Sports Writers Association honors as the LSWA announced on Sunday that sophomore forward Autumn Woodard was named Player of the Year and head coach Kevin Sherry was named Co-Coach of the Year.

Senior midfielder Jaelyn Peeples joined Woodard on the 2019 All-Louisiana Women’s Soccer Collegiate First Team. Junior defender Elizabeth Doll also received honorable mention honors.