BEAUMONT, Texas - The 2025 soccer season is set to kick off Thursday as Lamar University will travel to Lafayette, La., to open a three-match road trip against UL Lafayette. The match will start at 7 p.m.
 
PREVIOUSLY 
The Cardinals completed their preseason with a pair of exhibition games, hosting Blinn College at home and traveling to LSU. The Cardinals split their two exhibition games. Last season, LU finished 5-8-6, which included a 3-3-4 mark in Southland Conference Play. Big Red ultimately qualified for the conference tournament as the seventh seed. 
 
14 CAME BACK
The Cardinals return 14 members, including leading scorer Cena Carlson, who posted four goals and dished out three assists to tally 11 points, from the 2024 squad. LU also brings back Anneliese Switzer, Kaitlyn Niemeyer, Kamryn Harvey, Mariana Cardenas, Annika Kassenbrock, Riley Wilson, and Olivia Smith, who combined for nine goals and 19 points. At the same time, the defense is set to have Caragan Childs and Ella Carmody, who contributed to six shutouts. Goalkeeper Maddie Rich returns for her third campaign following a sophomore season comprised of 43 saves and a 1.02 goals against average. 
 
BRINGING SOME SCORING
LU is adding 14 newcomers to the squad, who combined to score 54 goals over the last few seasons. Headlining this group is Lauren Smith, who tallied 37 goals and dished out 17 assists while spending two seasons at Meridian Community College. Chloe Ezell (Pearl River Community College) and Christina Guzman (Holmes Community College) each tallied five goals while Sofia Wilby netted three as part of the Liverpool FC Women U21 team. 
 
OPENING GAME HISTORY
LU is 7-11 all-time in opening games with its last win coming in 2022, a 3-0 win over Houston. The Cardinals have also won three season-opening games on the road, including a 1-0 win at Sam Houston in 2023. 
 
ALL-TIME vs. UL Lafayette
Entering their 10th meeting against each other, the Cardinals possess a 4-4-1 record all-time against Ragin' Cajuns. Last season, the Cards hosted ULL at the LU Soccer Complex. The Cardinals held a 1-0 lead from a Carlson goal before UL Lafayette equalized in the 86th minute to end the match in a 1-1 draw. LU's last trip to Lafayette was a 2-0 shutout win back in 2023. In that game, Switzer, then with the Ragin' Cajuns, appeared in 44 minutes on defense. This will also mark the third meeting against ULL for Childs, who played the full 90 minutes in both matches. 
 
ABOUT UL Lafayette
The Ragin' Cajuns finished last season 7-5-8 overall. They averaged 1.3 goals, 13.6 shots, and 1.3 assists per game. In her freshman season, Adeline Nemeth, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was tied for the team lead with four goals and 13 shots on goal last year. Her first collegiate goal came against Southland Conference school foe McNeese. 
 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals head to College Station Sunday to take on Texas A&M. That game will be streamed on SEC Network and will start at 7:30 p.m. 
 

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