MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The first home contest of the year sets up to be a good one as the Lady Eagles take on future conference foe Point Tuesday night at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium at 7 p.m.
FAULKNER PREVIEW
The Lady Eagles are coming off a 4-12-1 season after reaching the SSAC postseason for the second straight year. Faulkner was picked seventh in the league in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. Injuries caused a lot of squad rotation last season with 19 different players recording multiple starts. Several returners who dealt with injuries throughout the year last season look poised to return stronger than ever.
Annabel Cuthbert scored three goals and assisted three more in limited time on the pitch in her 11 appearances last year.
Alessia Confalonieri scored once in just 230 minutes of play.
Libby Graham was strong in the midfield before her season ended prematurely. Due to the injuries, just seven Lady Eagles eclipsed 1000 minutes last year with just one returning:
Adamarie Moreno. The senior defender started all 16 matches she played last season. Fifth year head coach
Pritchard Ndaira has retooled the squad with some big transfers including Laia and
Marta Gonzalez who won the NJCAA National Championship with Heartland Community College out of Illinois. Laia scored 20 goals and assisted 11 more of the team's 100 goals while Marta was part of a defense that allowed just nine goals in 20 contests.
POINT PREVIEW
The Skyhawks are coming off an 11-8-1 season last year that concluded in the Appalachian Athletic Conference semifinals, a plateau they had not reached since 2014 and were picked fifth in the AAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The soon-to-be SSAC side won nine of their last 12 matches last season.
Point returns three second team all-AAC players including Kelly Carlisle, Keiry Bonilla and Erica Burkhardt. Carlisle and Bonilla 14 goals and five assists last year. Burkhardt tallied 114 saves at a 78.6 percent clip last year. The Skyhawks are led by 22nd year head coach Randy Douglas.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's contest marks the fourth straight year the teams have met with Faulkner leading the series 2-1. After splitting a pair of 1-0 matches, the Lady Eagles won 4-0 last season with goals from returners Confalonieri, Weissinger and Mendez.
COVERAGE
The match will be broadcast on the Faulkner Sports Network with live stat coverage on FaulknerEagles.com. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time on FaulknerEagles.com as well.
