The Lion’s Roar / Tamara Alexander
Freshman midfielder Maggie Ramsey chases after the ball during Sunday’s game against the Ragin’ Cajuns. Ramsey has made the most of her time at Southeastern, scoring once and adding an assist in her first two games. 

The Lady Lions Soccer team sent in-state rivals, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajun’s, packing after defeating them with a score of 3-0. 

The game took place at the Southeastern Soccer Complex on August 24. 

Lady Lions are now 2-0 overall. 

Junior Gisenia Utreras, junior Cheyenne Maxwell and freshman Maggie Ramsey all netted goals for the Lady Lions. 

Senior Chelsea Villaescusa, junior Erin Christ, sophomore Alexsis Cable, senior Jen Babcock and sophomore Katie Noonan all played a part in the defense that held ULL to seven shots throughout the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Hope Sabadash now has her second shutout of the season, finishing the game with four saves. 

Head Coach Blake Hornbuckle described the game as a overall success. 

“I think it was a great performance against the big in state rival today. We were fortunate we created three nice goals and had some other scoring opportunities, so we really feel good about today’s results,” said Hornbuckle. 

Hornbuckle also shed light on some great performances in many players.

“I think Chelsea Villaescusa on back line [did well]. Katie Noonan played a great role on the midfield and the back line for us. I really felt the effort of Cheyenne Maxwell, which was a big part of today’s game. She generated the second goal by winning the ball and putting in the net, giving us momentum. She had a fantastic day, and Hope Sabadash once again was solid in goal,” said Hornbuckle. 

Maxwell shed light on some of the strengths and key players of the game. 

“We won, so it was a good outcome,” said Maxwell. “I think Maggie really came through for us today because she took on a lot of plays, and she finished for us. Our strengths were definitely working hard. It helped us create opportunities, score and finish. It was a lot of hard work for us and [I’m] proud of us for the win,” said Maxwell. 

Throughout the first half, Southeastern held a 6-2 shot advantage despite that the game was played at a standstill. As the second half began, Utreras had a chance at a goal, but was taken down and given a penalty kick making the score 1-0. 

Maxwell then took the ball from a ULL defender and drove it in making the score 2-0. After that, Maggie Ramsey won the ball and drove it into the goal, pushing the final score to 3-0. 

Hornbuckle saw strength on the field. 

“Well, our strengths were that our fitness level is good, our mentality is good. We are going to continue to get better on how we move the ball and how we execute,” said Hornbuckle.

He also talked about Friday’s game against Jackson State and how the transition from that game to today’s game was fantastic. 

“We played a really good [game against] Jackson state team and we got a nice result, 2-0, but today we had a big transition from Fridays game to this game. We really grew a lot in between those two games after this game was finished. So, we were pleased with the effort,” said Hornbuckle after the win. 

Sabadash, nominee for the AWK goal-keeping award, is confident about the upcoming season. “It [the game] was fantastic. I mean going 2-0 in the preseason already is great,” said Sabadash. 

The Lady Lions return to action in an away game against Alcorn State  Thursday, August 28. 

The Lion’s Roar / Tamara Alexander
Sophomore forward Bri Singh controls the ball in last Sunday’s match against the Ragin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Singh led the team in goals scored last season and is averaging a goal per game this season.