The Lady Crusaders will look to return to the pinnacle of NAIA women's soccer this season, having made the NAIA National Championship game in 2 of the previous 4 seasons. Carey gets their season underway Thursday, August 21st as they host LSU Alexandria at Danny Owens Field. That game is set to get underway at 6 PM.
Carey takes on the Generals of LSUA to start their season. Carey are unbeaten in 5 games against LSUA and are yet to concede a goal. The Lady Crusaders average 2.8 goals a game against the Generals with their last game coming in 2019, a game in which Carey ran out 4-0 winners at Danny Owens Field.
"We are excited to start the season on Thursday," said Head Coach Danny Owens. "We have brought in a lot of new players and I feel like we have had a good preseason camp. Our returners have done a great job in helping our new players and it is time to get the season started."
The Generals are coming off a 12-5-3 season with a 9-2-2 record in conference play. LSUA reached the Red River Athletic Conference Final, falling on penalties to Xavier (La.) after coming back from 2-0 down to tie the game at 2-2. LSUA bring back only one of their top 5 points scorers from last season. Alexia Bermejo Jo, from Barcelona, Spain, led the team in points last season, recording 8 goals and 8 assists. LSUA welcomes 18 new players this season, meaning the Lady Crusaders will be taking on a very new look side for the Generals.
Carey will be looking for junior midfielder Ella Jefcoat to be a driving force behind their success this season.
"I'm very excited about this season, especially with all the new faces and talent." Said Jefcoat. "We had a really good fall camp that gave us lots to build off of, and I'm looking forward to seeing the potential this year's team has.
Jefcoat missed a large part of her freshman season due to injury. Her sophomore season she showed how integral she is to this Lady Crusader team as she started all 23 games last season.
Carey also return midfield maestro Karen Vilau. The senior out of Caracas, Venezuela has recorded 37 goals and 21 assists across her 3 seasons as a Lady Crusader. Vilau has increased her goal and assist tallies each year and will be hoping she can continue that trend and help lead Carey to more silverware this season.
Carey will start their season hosting LSUA and LSU Shreveport. They will then head on the road for 3 neutral site games where they will play SCAD-Savannah & Keiser, the two teams ranked 1st & 2nd in NAIA Coaches Preseason Poll. Carey opens their SSAC conference schedule with a road trip to Tifton, Ga. to take on Abraham Baldwin on September 20th.
