Shreveport – The Centenary women's soccer team won its season opener in thrilling fashion on Saturday evening as freshman midfielder Cynthia Williams (Bossier City) scored in overtime to give the Ladies a 2-1 victory over the LeTourneau YellowJackets at Mayo Field.
The Ladies (1-0) won for the ninth time in their last 10 home matches and recorded their second-consecutive 2-1 victory over the YellowJackets after also doing so in their home opener last season on Sept. 10, 2019. Centenary went 8-1 at Mayo Field last season as part of a record-setting campaign in which the Maroon and White finished 16-3 overall and 7-3 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play and qualified for the SCAC Championship for the fourth season in a row, falling to Southwestern 1-0 in overtime in the semifinals in Georgetown, Texas.
Centenary set division III era (2011-present) team records for wins (16), goals (47), assists (39), points (132), and shots (327) last season. They were ranked for six consecutive weeks in the United Soccer Coaches West Regional Poll during the season and finished 10th in the West Region in the final edition of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA Division III Poll.
The Ladies got off to a good start in their follow up to last season's successful run, as sophomore Avery Gilbert (League City, Texas) scored Centenary's first goal of the season, in the 42nd minute of the first half to give the Ladies a 1-0 lead which they took into halftime. The goal was Gilbert's second of her career after she notched one last season in a successful rookie campaign in which she played in 18 games with seven starts.
LeTourneau's Reagan Sandford tied the match at 1-1 with a goal in the 52nd minute. The match would remain deadlocked for the remainder of the second half until Williams, playing in her first career game, found the net for the winning score at the 103:52 mark leading to a wild celebration on the home sideline.
Senior goalkeeper Maggie Pitcher (San Antonio, Texas) played the entire match for the Ladies and picked up her 10th career win. She had three saves on Saturday to give her 125 in her career which is third-most in program history in the division III era. LeTourneau alternated Kiersten Reeser and Kelsy Traylor at keeper with Reeser getting the start and allowing one goal and recording one save. Traylor relived her and took the loss and made four saves. Centenary held a slight advantage in shots on Saturday, 13-11, and took an astounding 13 corner kicks, 10 in the first half alone to just three total on the night by LeTourneau.
The Ladies will play two additional non-conference matches before starting SCAC play in late February. Centenary welcomes Piedmont College to town on Sunday, Feb. 7 in its next match and then faces Mississippi University for Women on the road on Feb. 17. The Ladies open their conference schedule on Feb. 25 at St. Thomas.
The Maroon and White then play the first five matches in the month of March at home, beginning with a non-conference match versus Belhaven University on March 2 before their first home conference match against Austin College on March 6. The Ladies then host Mississippi University for Women in a rematch on March 9 and square off with the University of Dallas (March 13) and Schreiner (March 20) in consecutive weeks at home in SCAC play.
The Ladies finish the month at Texas Lutheran on March 27 and play their final road contest of the regular season at Southwestern on April 3. Centenary finishes the regular season at home versus Trinity on April 10 for Senior Day. The SCAC Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by Texas Lutheran University April 23 and 25 in Seguin, Texas.
A link to the Ladies' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wsoc/2020-21/schedule
Live stats and live video are available for all home matches.
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