EUNICE, La. – A season of firsts continues this weekend as LSU Eunice men's soccer will make its first postseason appearance in the Region 23 Tournament with a semifinal date on Saturday against Southwest Mississippi. The tournament will be held at Bobcat Soccer Field after Jones College captured the MACJC Championship last week.
The winner of the semifinal matchup will automatically qualify for next week's South District tournament. A win by LSU Eunice (7-2-2) would set up a Region 23 Championship game with Jones College on Sunday at 3:00PM while a win by Southwest would automatically give Jones College the Region 23 title.
"The guys are incredibly excited to be in the postseason during our season as a team," LSUE head coach Josh McReynolds said. "They are looking forward to the road ahead but focused on the challenge of facing a very difficult Southwest side."
LSU Eunice meets Southwest Mississippi for a second time this season after the Bears defeated the Bengals 3-1 last month.
Jason Jaimes (Houston, TX, Davis HS) was the lone goal scorer of the game when he tied the contest 1-1 midway through the first half.
"We did not do a good job of breaking them down in the low block," McReynolds added. "That has been an area of emphasis during training this week as well as offensive and defensive set pieces."
The Bengals enter the postseason on a three-match win streak, outscoring those three teams 11-4 in that span. LSUE is led offensively by the attacking duo of
Noah Wagner (Corpus Christi, TX, Veterans Memorial HS) and
Adrian Franco (Houston, TX, Andy Dekaney HS (TX)). The freshman forwards are tied for the lead on the team in goals with ten each.
Sean Jeanfreau (Mandeville, LA, Mandeville HS) is expected to start in goal after posting a 6-2-1 record this season.
Southwest Mississippi (13-3-1) is fresh off the school's first-ever MACJC Championship game appearance. The Bears fell to Jones College, 2-1, in overtime.
The Bears is led offensively by Patrick Larsen and Felipe Madero. The duo has combined for 38 of the Bears' 59 goals this season. Conner Smothers is expected to start in net after recording an 11-4 record and 1.22 goals against average this season.
The game will be streamed live on Southwest Mississippi's "Bear TV" which can be accessed by visiting www.southwestbearathletics.com. Fans can find more LSUE news and information on social media via Twitter (@LSUEBengalsMSOC), Facebook and Instagram (@LSUEBengals) or by logging onto www.lsuebengals.net.
