Islanders Continue Home Stand With Nicholls Matchup

Soccer | September 30, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi moves into Sunday's competition with Nicholls undefeated at home for 2017. The Islanders are coming off their second draw of the year, as neither the Blue and Green or visiting Southeastern Louisiana could amount a goal on the evening. 

As hosts, Corpus Christi has accumulated a record of 1-0-2 on the year when playing in Dugan Stadium, and are a single win shy of tying a single-season program record. At 4-4-2 the Islanders are off to their best start in school history, and have already set a program record in consecutive unbeaten contests (4), and consecutive shutout minutes (344). 

The Colonels come to the Island after suffering a 4-0 loss to Houston Baptist on the road this Friday, getting outshot by the Huskies 26-4 on the afternoon. Nicholls is 3-5 when playing on the road this year, although the team's lone win in the Southland came at home against Abilene Christian.

The Islanders will hope that their offense can get back on track against a Nicholls defense that is allowing an average of two goals a game. The hosting Blue and Green has surrendered a paltry 1.10 goals per contest to rank second in the Southland, and with three overtime contests played this season, is averaging 1.04 allowed per 90 minutes. 

PROMOTIONS
>> Camper Reunion Day: All Texas A&M-Corpus Christi summer campers are invited to come back for free face painting and balloon art

SERIES HISTORY

• The Islanders trail their series with the Colonels four matches to none in the two's all-time series, with each contest ending in a single-goal differential
• Shayla Spearman scored the second of her three goals from last year against Nicholls, and just posted a season-high of 36 minutes played against SLU this past Friday
• Spearman is the only player on the Corpus Christi roster to have scored against the Colonels previously, as she, Chayse Bauer, Brooke Erdmann, Ashley Hamilton and Kendall Moody all earned starts against Nicholls in 2016
• Moody and Jordan Wainwright split time at the keeper position in last year's matchup, with the Colonels scoring an overtime winner in the 92nd minute
• The Islanders have already participated in three overtime contests this season. The two sides' 2016 competition was one, of a record-setting four, overtime matches the Blue and Green participated in
• Both sides will look relatively new in comparison to last year's matchup. Six Nicholls players that started in the previous clubs' competition have earned starts in the 2017 campaign, while only two Islanders are in the same situation

THE ISLANDERS

• Jordan Wainwright earned a clean sheet against Southeastern Louisiana on Friday. She's allowed just a single goal over three starts this season, all of which have been at home
• Defender Siri O'Donnell produced a career-high two shots against the Lions, playing all 110 minutes of the scoreless draw
• The Islanders tie with the Lions on Friday marks the fourth match in Corpus Christi history that has ended 0-0
• With Corpus Christi's roster shortened due to injury, defender Andi Bethard earned a season-high 46 minutes against the Lions, while forward Katie Seabolt saw her first action of 2017
• After participating in 11 overtime matches in the past four seasons combined, the Islanders have already played three this year, with seven regular season matches still remaining
• The Blue and Green is tied for third in the Southland with four shutouts this season, averaging .40 per match
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's loss to the Bearkats last week ended the program's longest running unbeaten streak (4), and the goal the team allowed in the first half put an end to its longest streak of shutout minutes (344) 
• Kaitlyn Joy registered a career-high five shots against the Bearkats last week, while her single shot against the Lions this Friday give her a team-high of 17 for the year  
• Wainwright's clean sheet against SLU is her second of the year and the third of her career, placing the senior second in program history. Her save percentage sits at .955 for 2017
• The Islanders are off to their best start in program history (4-4-2) and sit just a single win away from tying a season-best all time and posting their best season in history 
• Freshman Addison Urbanus has started in the Islanders previous four contests and recorded the first goal of her career against UIW two weeks ago 
• Katie Lawrence moved into a team-lead with her second goal of the year, scoring the Blue and Green's first PK of the season in that match against the Cardinals 
• Lawrence's game winner against the Cardinals is the second of her career and puts her in a tie with Brooke Erdmann for the second-most in program history   
• The Blue and Green is 7-7-3 over its past 17 outings, and 6-6-3 when counting just regular season contests

SCOUTING NICHOLLS

• Haylee Atwell and Emily Werenskiold have combined for six of the Colonels 13 goals this season, despite the latter making just seven starts on the year
• Nicholls is just one of two schools in the Southland with fewer shots taken than Corpus Christi on the year (110), and they have the steepest goal differential margin in the conference at -2.25 per match 
• Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Benoit has started the previous six contests in net for the Colonels and leads her team with 50 saves. Sophomore returner Roosa Hurmerinta leads Nicholls with a 1.00 GAA on the year, but has not earned a start since September eighth
• The Colonels have outscored the Islanders 13-10 on the year, but have played one more match than the Blue and Green in 2017
• Nicholls has a combined save total of 72 on the season, just two short of Southland leader Southeastern Louisiana, whom the Islanders tied in a scoreless draw just this Friday
• Nicholls leads the conference with just two yellow cards on the year, nine less than Corpus Christi's SLC-leading 11
• A lack of offensive pressure has given Nicholls an average of just 1.60 corner kicks per match, ranking dead last in the Southland and 328th out of 333 Division I squads

STAY SOCIAL
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