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The Wildcats will play back to back home games for the first time this season when they host Northwestern State (0-2-1, 3-5-2) and Central Arkansas (2-1, 5-6). ACU will take on the Lady Demons on Friday at 7 p.m, followed by a match up with the Sugar Bears on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wildcats are still searching for their first home win of the season after losing their home opener against North Texas, 3-0, and tying Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1-1.
“We will prepare for these teams like all of the others,” head coach Casey Wilson said. “We just have to play our game to our potential and we will be fine.”
ACU (1-1-1, 2-7-2) has seen three different results in three conference games so far this year. After forcing a tie with the Islanders in their conference opener, the Wildcats split their next two games on the road against Nicholls State (4-1 win) and conference leader Southeastern Louisiana (1-0 loss).
“Whether on the road or at home we have to execute and take advantage of our chances,” Wilson said. “Being at home is exciting without the lag of being on the road which should always be an incentive to play well.”
Freshman Dylan Owens recorded four points for ACU against the Colonels in the Wildcat’s offensive attack. The game against the Lions however debuted a battle of the top goal keepers in the conference. Junior Sydney Newton allowed the only goal of the match in the 75th minute to move SELU to 3-0 in conference.
The Wildcats are 2-0 all time against NSU, with shutout wins coming in both last year’s match up (3-0) and in 2013 (1-0). ACU forced a tie with the Bears (2-2 OT) last year as both squads exchanged goals in the 75th and 78th minutes in a even matched game in Conway, Arkansas. The Wildcats edged the Bears, 2-1, in their meeting in 2013.
The Lady Demons are coming off a 2-1 loss to McNeese State and have dropped three of their last four matches. UCA won handily over Lamar last weekend, 6-1, and are 2-1 in the conference so far.
Statistically, the Wildcats match up pretty evenly with the Lady Demons and Sugar Bears. ACU is second in the Southland Conference with 18.3 shots per game, while Northwestern State leads the conference with 20.67 shots per game and UCA averaging 16.67 shots per game, with is tied for fourth.
Offensively, ACU has averaged 1.67 goals per game since the start of conference competition, which ranks fourth in the Southland. The Sugar Bears are the top goal scoring team with three a game. Northwestern State is towards the bottom of the conference with three goals in three games.
Defensively, the Wildcats have given up one goal per game, compared to the Lady Demons, who have given up twice that amount. The Sugar Bears average 1.3 goals allowed per game, which sits at fifth in the conference.
