Winds of change fail to materialize in Nicholls soccer team’s 2-1 loss in SLC play

For a while at least, it seemed like the winds of change might be upon the Nicholls soccer team.

Playing on a Sunday afternoon featuring a constant, strong wind from the south, the Lady Colonels were tied 0-0 at halftime. It was one of the few times Nicholls had not trailed going into the second half this season.

“It affects the game,” Nicholls coach Robert Podeyn said of the wind. “It’s part of the environment, just like the rain, poor officiating, or anything like that. You might adjust a little bit so that when you are with the wind, you maybe look to shoot more, certainly from distance. When you are against the wind, you are looking to maybe try and progress on the ground and play quickly.

“Our goal was to just try and make sure we kept numbers behind the ball, trying to deny shots from distance, which their first goal was, and try that moment to go forward. We found that moment and it looked like we were building momentum toward the end of the game.”

That first goal came from Texas A&M-Commerce’s Kaydence Ramirez to stake the Lady Lions to a 1-0 lead at the 53:12 mark.

A goal by Texas A&M-Commerce’s Hannah Bell off an assist by Christina Hernandez extended the lead to 2-0 before Nicholls quickly countered on a goal by Koryn Barrett of an assist by Hanah Gonzalez at the 82:25 mark but that was as close as the Lady Colonels would get in a 2-1 home loss.

Coming off a 5-1loss two days earlier to Lamar, Podeyn experimented with his lineup.

“We kind of switched it up. The game before we actually had taken out nine of our starters and put nine new players in. Those nine players hadn’t played much. They did well in the 25 minutes and scored a goal in the game Friday, so I gave those nine the start. They did well to maintain and try to create some things. I think that really kind of helped the players on the side see the game and kind of get into the game before they actually stepped on the field,” the Nicholls coach explained.

The loss, which extended the Lady Colonels’ losing streak to seven games, dropped Nicholls to 0-4 in the Southland Conference and 1-12 overall.

Texas A&M-Commerce improved to 4-0 in league play and 6-5-1 overall.

The Lady Colonels have two of the top teams in the Southland now behind them.

“Both of them are undefeated in conference. I think that maybe gives us, hopefully, a little momentum moving forward,” Podeyn said.