Bobcats shutout Cajuns in conference opening win

The Bobcats win streak was extended to four as Texas State defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 3-0 to start Sun Belt Conference play.

Head Coach Steve Holeman said he was proud of his team for coming through in the second half, as the Bobcats continue their winning ways.

“It was a big win,” Holeman said. “Louisiana is a much improved team. If we walked out of here with a one-goal win I would have been happy. To score three goals and keep a clean sheet was just a great effort for the team.”

Despite being shutout in the first half, the Bobcats were aggressive on offense with eight shots during the period, along with seven corner kicks.

Even though the first half saw no goals for the Bobcats, Holeman said he knew if Texas State stayed aggressive on offense, the ball would eventually find the back of the net.

“Our hope was that it was going to be only a matter of time,” Holeman said. “We had three to four clear cut chances in the first half so going into halftime 0-0 was a little disappointing. But we knew if we kept at it and kept the task at hand, [the goals] would come.”

Sophomore Mady Soumare kicked off the scoring fest, as the forward from Paris, France, ran with the ball before scoring on the unassisted goal in the 48th minute to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

Soumare is on a offensive run over the past two games, having also scored the game-winning goal against Houston.

“She has really come a long way,” Holeman said. “When we brought her in, she was a phenomenal goal scorer. She just had to adjust to the speed of play. Initially, it took her a little bit, but she is getting there.”

Soumare wasn’t done yet on the offensive side of the ball, as the sophomore found junior Zoe Junior on the cross and belted it past the goalkeeper, to extend the lead to 2-0 in the 56th minute.

Freshman Halle Gracia scored her third goal of the season for the Bobcats in the 77th minute to slam the door on a Cajun comeback, giving the Bobcats a 3-0 win.

Texas State goes back on the road this Thursday as the Bobcats faceoff with Arkansas State.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc