Lightning delays in no way discouraged the Golden Eagles women’s soccer team on August 10.

In their season opening exhibition against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles soccer team coasted to an easily taken 8-1 win.

Southern Miss got to the opposing keeper early and never looked back. Eight minutes in, Stephanie Garcia scored the first goal to be seen this season, Hannah Abrams followed shortly thereafter at the twenty-minute mark.

Although Garcia did find the back of the net again, the freshmen players stole the show from there. Jennyfer Caracheo (2), Reagan Urbany, JoAnnie Ramos and Miah Zuazua all scored their first career college goals in the opening exhibition.

Head Coach Mohammed El-Zare had high praise for these players following Thursday afternoon’s match.

“They’re all creative players that love to have the ball at their feet. We want to attack, and they showed me their qualities today,” El-Zare said.

With three minutes left to play, Southeastern Louisiana finally tallied up on the scoreboard, spoiling Southern Miss’s hopes of a clean sheet. However, veteran leader Garcia did not seem bothered in the end. Her mindset was fixated on the Southern Miss attack opening play and how that benefitted her teammates.

“Our interchanging runs allow us to find space,” Garcia said. “I think that just creates a lot of chances, that’s how we got so many goals today. Our incoming freshmen came in to fight for a spot. That’s what we need. They showed that they can play at this level.”

Soccer season here at Southern Miss looks promising thus far. Be sure to follow their progress as they fight their way through this season which officially starts on Friday August 18 against Nicholls State.