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LITTLE ROCK - The last away match on Little Rock soccer's 2020 conference slate has already arrived, as the Trojans (2-5-1, 2-3-1 Sun Belt) will head to Lafayette for a Thursday evening game against Louisiana (8-3, 4-2 Sun Belt). Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. and fans are welcome to attend.
Coach's Preview
The Sun Belt Championship schedule and bracket has been officially released by the conference, revealing a new tournament format that will host all 11 teams in Foley, Alabama. The First Round is set to begin Monday, Nov. 2 while the tournament will be concluded on place Sunday, Nov. 8, with one day of rest in between each day of play. Teams in the East division will be matched up with teams in the West division, meaning that every school will be competing against a Sun Belt member that they have potentially not seen at all this season. Currently, there is only one team locked into their seed in the entire conference, meaning that Little Rock still has the opportunity to make their own luck.
"I definitely think we could finish as high as second and as low as fourth in our division, but that's also depending on what everyone else's results are," said head coach Mark Foster. "On the other side of it, everyone's been beating each other, so I think we just need to focus on us, win our last two games. Then whatever seed we get and whoever we're playing, we need to just take it with a positive attitude about it and try to win that game. Right now, there are still so many variables and what ifs, so the best thing we can do is just take it one step at a time like we have all season."
The Trojans have shown in several games this season that they are a dark horse team with the talent to win it all. Now heading into their ninth match of the season, the chemistry and experience have continued to grow with each game. Nine members of the team have started in every single match, and of those nine, six have accumulated over 700 minutes out of the 740 total this season, proving the endurance of the squad. Doro Greulich is an anomaly, recording only 256 minutes yet leading the team in goals with three. She is supported by fellow senior Bergros Asgeirsdottir, a starting defender who has been awarded an assist for two of those three.
A Glance at the Matchup
Little Rock will travel to Louisiana with revenge on their mind, after a late change in the schedule led to the Ragin' Cajuns heading north to earn a 2-0 win on Trojan turf that Little Rock couldn't come back from to equalize despite creating late pressure. The Trojan offensive game has been developing steadily over the past few weeks, which will be needed to get past the Louisiana goalie, whose save percentage leads the conference.
"We definitely respect them," said Coach Foster. "Their coach is doing a terrific job. But as much as we respect them, we really believe that on our day we can beat anybody, and this is a game where if we can get our mindset right and get our approach right, I think we can get a positive result out of it."
"The last game against them I think we started the game very well and were on top, but we didn't take our chances and they caught us on the break," admitted Coach Foster. "Their first shot on goal went in and then they caught us again not concentrating before halftime and that mountain ended up being too high to climb. We played a great second half and went at them and tried to get back in the game, but we just couldn't force a goal. I've been very happy with a lot of our play this year but for as good as we're playing we're not scoring enough goals right now and so that's what we're looking for, that little bit of icing on the cake."
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For the latest information on Little Rock Soccer, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSOC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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