Blue and Green Goes Pink This Friday Against McNeese

Soccer | October 18, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi may be in for a war of attrition this Friday, as two of the most sound defensive sides in the Southland face off for a 7:30 p.m. evening matchup.

While the Islanders have held opponents to an average of 1.21 goals per match, visiting McNeese will enter Dugan Stadium this weekend on a streak of four straight shutouts. Both teams are streaking at the moment, with the hosting Blue and Green coming off one of its biggest weekends in history. The Islanders dropped Central Arkansas and Northwestern State on the road the previous week, marking the first time the program has gone 2-0 over a weekend road trip of SLC play.

Corpus Christi and McNeese are both experiencing historic success for their respective programs. The Islanders set a program win record with their sixth victory of the season at NSU, while the Cowgirls have reached 11 wins for the first time since 2008. With just three matches remaining the SLC Championship tournament seeds are beginning to take shape. The Blue and Green currently holds the last available spot at eighth, while McNeese sits behind Lamar for first in the conference

PROMOTIONS
>> PINK DAY; First 200 spectators receive a free pink Islanders shirt in support of Breast Cancer Awareness

SERIES HISTORY

• The Islanders are 2-1-1 against McNeese all-time, beating the Cowgirls both times they've stepped into Dugan Stadium
• Every match between McNeese and the Blue and Green has been separated by a single goal or less
• Redshirt-senior Brooke Erdmann turned in the first multi-goal performance of her career against McNeese last season, scoring two goals in the second half against the Cowgirls
• The Islanders led 2016's match against McNeese into the 86th minute, before forward Savannah LaRicci tied it in the 89th. The match ended in a 2-2 draw
• Erdmann had a career-high five shots on goal in last year's match, with current Islanders Madeleine Lozano, Shayla Spearman and Jordan Wainwright all earning starts in that match
• Eight players on the current Blue and Green roster saw time in 2016's matchup, while Erdmann was the only one to get playing time against the Cowgirls in 2015
• Last year's 2-2 draw was the first time the Islanders' and Cowgirls' match didn't end 1-0
• In the three matches of the series that did not end in a draw, the team with the higher volume of shots turned out as winner

THE ISLANDERS

• A pair of goals from forward Brooke Erdmann lifted the Islanders past Northwestern State on Sunday, as the senior recorded the second multi-goal effort of her career. She is now two multi-goal performances from tying a program record
• Corpus Christi's two wins over the weekend gives the club a program best six wins in the regular season. The team sits a single goal shy of its most productive season offensively, and has a shot at its best defensive effort in history if the side can hold McNeese, Lamar and HBU to a combined four goals
• Ashley Hamilton picked up the first points of her career on Erdmann's first goal against the Demons, lobbing a ball over the defense in the fifth minute for her first-ever assist
• After taking an early 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes the Islanders were able to hold on for a 2-1 win against the Demons, putting their record at a perfect 5-0 when scoring first and 5-0 when leading at the half
• With 10 goals and 22 points, Erdmann is second all-time for the Islanders in both categories. She's three caps away from claiming the program career-high in appearances as well
• The Blue and Green's five road wins on the year tie their combined total from the last four seasons
• The Islanders beat UCA for a second straight time last Friday, scoring three second half goals to take the final 3-1
• The win over the Bears is the first game the Blue and Green has won this year when trailing at halftime
• Freshman Abby Deakin recorded the first goal of her collegiate career against the Bears, making it seven Islander freshmen to score this year  
• Kyleigh Hall turned in one of the top performances of the year against UCA, tying an Islander individual high for the season with nine stops on 10 shots
• The Islanders scored two goals in the span of 40 seconds against Central Arkansas, the shortest amount of time between goals for the squad this year
• With their 2-0 weekend the Islanders shift into eighth in the SLC, the final spot available in the Southland Conference Championship. With a 2-0-1 record over the next two weeks, the Islanders would be guaranteed a postseason berth
• Freshman Mariah Ramon tied the Islanders' single season record with her third assist of the year against Abilene Christian, with one more helper she will be the lone record holder
• The Islanders are 6-5-2 coming off a victory, dating back through the 2015 season
• The program record for wins in a row is three, which came in 2015 with victories at UCA (Oct. 18), at home against Lamar (Oct. 23) and McNeese (Oct. 25)
• Corpus Christi already has 16 goals through 14 games this year, tying a program best for a single season. Nine different Islander players have gotten on the scoresheet in 2017

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS

• McNeese currently sits second in the conference at 7-1 in Southland play. The Cowgirls have allowed a paltry five goals on the season, putting their .328 goals allowed per match first in the Southland, and fourth in Division I women's soccer
• The Cowgirls' .925 save percentage trails only Butler (.951) for the best mark in the country
• At goalkeeper, McNeese is led by Emma Roccaforte, whose .918 save percentage in second-best in the country and and goals against average (.383) sits seventh in the nation
• Forward Savannah LaRicci leads the Southland in multiple major offensive category, including points (25), goals (10), and game-winners (6)
• LaRicci also sits second in the SLC when considering shots per match (3.47), shots on goal per match (1.87) and yellow cards (3)
• Defenders Gabi D'Alesandro and Nikki Schaaf have both earned Southland Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2017
• Despite their defensive prowess, McNeese also ranks third in the SLC with 1.93 goals per match after outscoring Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word 3-0 and 7-0 respectively
• McNeese has not been scored on since September 29th, and has shot 21% in those four matches since. Meanwhile the club's opponents have been averaging just 6.75 shots and four SOGs per match during that span

Islander fans can catch all of this weekend's action with a live video stream provided by the Islander Digital Network, or can keep track of all match events with live stats provided by Sidearm Sports.

COMING UP NEXT
After their match with McNeese, the Islanders will faceoff with the top-ranked team in the Southland, hosting Lamar this coming Sunday at 1 PM. The Blue and Green has lost to the Cardinals just once in its four year history, and is on a streak of three straight wins against Lamar.

STAY SOCIAL
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