The soccer team plays its conference home-opener and first game at Elmer Gray stadium in almost a month when they take on Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana Friday and Sunday.
ACU heads into these games with momentum after a convincing 4-0 win in their first conference game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Senior midfielder Allie Gerner said the team is happy to be playing back in front of the ACU fans.
“Playing at home is always a really fun thing because we get to play in front of our friends, professors and Abilene community,” said Gerner. “Last Saturday was a big win and a great start to conference, so I hope we can continue to play with the same type of excitement and motivation this weekend. We’ve been preparing for these conference games for quite a while, so now we just need to be able to execute.”
Four Wildcats have each scored two goals this season, including senior midfielder Leslie Snider, senior forward Natalie Throneberry, sophomore midfielder Chelsea Reedy, and freshman defender Shay Johnson.
Junior midfielder Chloe Fifer is currently tied for the lead in the Southland Conference with five assists on the season. Fifer and Throneberry both lead the team with five points each.
Senior goalkeeper Sydney Newton has tallied 31 saves along with a 0.98 goals against average and a .838 save percentage.
“I would say that the team is excited to host the first conference home game of the season and we are hoping to keep the momentum going from last weekend into this one,” Newton said. “We have been trying to concentrate on not repeating the same mistakes that we saw in preseason while also trying to gain confidence as a team.”
For Nicholls State, senior midfielder Jess Coates is tied for the lead in the Southland Conference with five goals while freshman forward Kristy Helmers is tied for the lead with Fifer in assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Roosa Hurmerinta has made 12 saves and has put up a 1.01 goals against average with a .750 save percentage. Nicholls State played to a draw against Lamar in its conference opener, and sits at 3-2-1 overall.
For Southeastern Louisiana, sophomore forward Sofia Olsson is tied in the Southland Conference as well with five goals and also leads the team with 11 points and 29 shots.
Four different players lead the team with two assists including senior forward Casey Peacock, sophomore defender Christina Cutura, sophomore midfielder Vanessa Arzaluz, and junior defender Lauren Babcock.
Senior goalkeeper Hope Sabadash had played every minute for the Lions and has made a total of 53 saves. She’s also put up a goal against average of 1.41 and a save percentage of .803. SELU earned a 3-1 victory over McNeese State in its conference opener and sits at a record of 4-4-1 this season.
In 2015 the Wildcats defeated Nicholls 4-1, but fell 1-0 to SELU. ACU is 2-1 against each team since moving to Division 1.
