AUGUST 2018 Volume 1, Issue 12

WELCOME BACK COWGIRLS!

We welcomed our Cowgirls back on July 28th!
We were so excited to get the girls back into
town and get them ready for the season! Re-
turners and newcomers began their moving
and settling back into Lake Charles. The return- IN THIS
ers helped newcomers move into the dorms on
campus and began to tell all the freshmen, that ISSUE...
they brought too much stuff (LOL). The girls
met with the athletic trainers, compliance and
academic advisors to ensure school was all brought in 11 newcomers to the 2018
set. On August 1st, we began preseason! Fit- team (9 freshmen and 2 transfers).
The main focus of preseason for the  Welcome Back
team was to incorporate our new cow-  Introducing the
girls and really build the chemistry Cowgirls!
within the team. The girls enjoyed some
 Preseason
bonding time between practices and
meals together throughout preseason.  THANK YOU’s!
We also had two Cowgirls named to the  #100HUNDREDS
2018 Preseason All– Conference 1st  Boots & Bowling
ness tests, technical and tactical practices team! Midfielder Nola Prickett and goal-
were underway to get the team prepared in keeper Emma Roccaforte. Congrats to  Fall Games
two weeks for our first matches against Prai- Emma and Nola! Keep up the good work  Game Balls
rie View A&M and Texas Christian University. "It Cowgirls!  A Message from
was really good to see the returners hit the
Coach Fitzgerald
field for a bit and to get a look at how the
freshmen and newcomers will fit in," said head
coach Drew Fitzgerald. "We are a young team
overall but have a great senior group. Being
able to lean on them and their experience is
going to be big for us. “ The coaching staff

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 2018 MCNEESE COWGIRLS
#TEAMOVEREVERYTHING

ERIN WINTERS; SARAH CLAYTON; DAYNA GARCIA; EMILEE MAYES; ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ; RACHEL PALET; JUNA SUPPAN; REBECCA ADCOCK
MORGAN MIDDLETON; NOLA PRICKETT

MADDIE NEIGDIG; ALEXIS MILLER; KACIE KINLEY; KEELY MORROW; ANNA CAROLINE FRITSCH; CARISSA ADAMS; GABRIELLE CHRISTY;
WATSON; MARIAH RUELAS; EMMA ROCCAFORTE; HAVANA JOHNSON MACAYLA BASS; HAYLEY HALLIDAY; DELANA FRIESEN; ISA
KEMBEL; NATAYLA RAMIREZ; BROOKE MALLORY

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The girls grinded out preseason and rose up to exceed the expec-
tations that preseason holds. On top of that, they did a great job
of bringing the newcomers into the Cowgirl family! We had multi-
ple newcomers mention how great the team was during individual
meetings. We’re so proud how the girls are meeting the challenge
as we continued to move forward towards our first competitions.
During preseason, the girls also met with Sports Psychologists
from HumanEX to discuss their strengths as athlete. They were
given their 7 strengths and discussed them with the team.
It helped the team realize each other strengths and build off of
them. We also had another special guest come and speak to the
girls. Tania Hahn, the president of Hahn Enterprises who started
her own business in a male-dominated industry and explained
that success is based on “showing up” do to your job everyday.
She explained her background and how she decided to make
huge career choices, while remembering that she had a duty to
herself and to the people she worked with to show up, enjoy
what she does and do it to the best of her abilities. Tania Hahn is
also heading our bleacher project on Cowgirl field as well and is
looking forward to becoming a HUGE Cowgirl Supporter!

We wanted to thank a few individuals for their help and meals

this preseason! First, Mr. Steve (FCA) fed our team during
preseason and did a few team activities after dinner and intro-
duced the new Cowgirls to FCA. Next, Dr. Rita Rae had the girls
over for dinner one night at her lake house, where we enjoyed
dinner and a show! The girls were put into groups and compet-
ed in a Lip Sync Battle! The girls performed songs such as The
Cheetah Girls, Christina Aguilera’s, “Fighter”, “HAVANA” by
Camila Cabello and a Musical Classic from the Movie Hairspray!
Dr. Rita Rae was the judge and the winner was the group who
performed Hairspray for their dedication to their characters!
We also want to thank Striker Club for also feeding the team
after a preseason practice at Big Daddy’s grill! The Cowboy
Club fed both soccer and volleyball. Lastly, we can’t give thank
you’s out without Thanking Sandi Rodriguez, for helping with
everything throughout preseason and making Sam’s Club runs
for the team! THANK YOU EVERYONE!

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We once again launched our #100HUNDREDS Campaign this summer! We took to social media,
posting and sharing how this fundraiser has provided numerous opportunities and necessi-
ties for our Cowgirl Soccer program. The fundraiser helps with team travel, team bonding
activities, meals and nutrition, equipment, and gear for our Cowgirls. This year EVERY donor
was given a one year membership to our Striker Club. With a Striker Club membership you
get an insiders e-newsletter every month detailing what is happening in Cowgirl Soccer.

Some of you are receiving this newsletter BECAUSE you donated to our #100HUNDREDS
Campaign, so thank you! This year, our main goal was to get to 100 donors and build our
Cowgirl Soccer Community. We were close to reaching our goal with over 70 donors, within
the 45 days of campaigning. We have numerous giveaways for donors; some received auto-
graphed posters, McNeese Soccer gear and our last lucky winner received a Jersey signed
by the 2018 team! Overall, we wanted to thank you and everything who donated and/or
shared our posts. Without your help and donations we would not have been able to raise
over $13,000 for our Cowgirl Soccer program! We definitely have the best supporters and
because of you we are looking forward to a great season ahead of us and we are definitely
playing every game for our dedicated and incredible supporters! THANK YOU!

We held our 5th annual Boots& Bowling fundraiser sponsored by Toyota of Lake Charles, benefiting McNeese Soccer and Volleyball on Au-
gust 8th! Both Soccer and Volleyball had a great time interacting and even competing with some of the teams that registered. Most of the
teams came from local businesses looking to take home our first Boots& Bowling Trophy! We also gave out door prizes and held a silent
auction. We want to thank all the businesses that donated items either towards our door prizes or silent auction! We were able to make
over $1,400 off the silent auction alone! We also had some special guests such as the Chief of Police (WestLake) and the Mayor of Westlake!
Coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald did a great job announcing an kept those door prizes flowing for our guests to win! It was a tight race through
the first game of bowling with many teams being close in score, but in the end, the Southland Coins team captained by Malcom Self
(pictured above) was able to pull out the win and claim the trophy! Everyone enjoyed some pizza and drinks and the silent auction was
stopped at 8:15pm while guests were fighting over the last bid on some items! Overall, a great fundraiser and experience for our Cowgirls!

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Our Cowgirls have spent the last two weeks pre-
paring for their season opener by battling
through the summer heat along with a pesky
weather system that dumped torrential amounts
of rain across Louisiana. Our Cowgirls kicked off
the season with some travel to Prairie View, TX
where they took on SWAC team Prairie View A&M.
The girls played well and came out with the 1-0
win with a goal from Havana Johnson. Our cow-
girls dominated the match by outshooting the
Panthers 25-3. This is the ninth time the two
teams have met, and with tonight's victory,
McNeese remains unbeaten in the series that
began in 2002. The next day, we began our trip
up to Fort Worth, Texas. On the way up, the girls
enjoyed some time in Waco, TX where the girls
enjoyed lunch and did some shopping. Some ever
found some Electric scooters to rent and rode
around the city. Even Coach Kylee enjoyed some
time on the scooters (maybe a little too much). It
was time to refocus as we arrived at Big 12 con-
tender, TCU’s campus. This was the first of two
TV appearances for our Cowgirls for the season.
On Sunday, it was the first meeting of our Cow-
girls and the Horned Frogs. Our cowgirls played
their hearts out as the frogs were on the offense
most of the time. "This TCU team is a very good
team and I'm incredibly impressed with the team
effort and fight our players showed. I think this
weekend was a great building block weekend for
this group. I'm very proud of them," said Fitzger-
ald. In the end, our Cowgirls fell 1-0. Our Cowgirls,
may have lost but they showed what Cowgirl soc-
cer is all about. The grit and tenacity to finish the
game, no matter what the result it. We returned
home for a week of practice and film watching
learning from our mistakes and building off of our
successes. Our home opener consisted of our
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Cowgirls ready to protect their home and an
aggressive Texas State team looking to take
over. But of course… Our Cowgirls did not let
that happen. With some fancy footwork from
forward Anna Watson and goals from Havana
Johnson and Mariah Ruelas our Cowgirls again
rose to the occasion and let Cowgirl Soccer
speak for itself, We had a great crowd out for
the game and it made it the perfect atmosphere
for our Cowgirls to take down the Bobcats. The
win over Texas State gave our girls the confi-
dence to again have a quick turnaround and
defend their home once again, but now defend-
ing it from SEC top contender, the Arkansas
Razorbacks. This would be the first McNeese
Soccer home game televised on Cox Sports TV
and also the first time the Cowgirls would host
an SEC opponent. The Razorbacks were going to
be another tough test for the Cowgirls, but their
match against TCU last Sunday gave the Cow-
girls some experience in playing against some
top-caliber competition. “We are excited about
the opportunity to have a team of their caliber
coming to Cowgirl Field to play," said head
coach Drew Fitzgerald. "They are coming off of a
weekend where they tied West Virginia, one of
the premier programs in the country, so we
know we'll have a big challenge on our hands."
If you weren’t at Cowgirl field or watching it on
TV, you missed our Cowgirls taking down a SEC
soccer program AT HOME. Havana Johnson's
game-winning goal off a rebound with 3 ½
minutes to play in the second overtime lifted the
McNeese Cowgirls to a 3-2 win over the SEC's
Arkansas Razorbacks in the first-ever home
match against a member of the Power 5 confer-
ence. (SECTION CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE)
 "This was definitely the biggest non-conference win in the history of
the program," said head coach Drew Fitzgerald . The weekend wins
were huge from the program beating a Sun Belt conference contend-
er and a Power 5 conference team, Arkansas. The Cowgirls stayed
home and began another week of practice on a new level. The confi-
dence and intensity of the team grew throughout the week as the
weekend appeared as a Louisiana Rivalry weekend. Friday’s game
was against ULM, the game went into over time with a goal from De-
fender Keely Morrow and a goal from ULM’s forward. The first over-
time started and the Cowgirl’s were focused on making the golden
goal. With 30 seconds left in the first overtime, a beautiful strike
from Rachel Palet ended the game with the Cowgirls victorious! The
game was a huge win again, for the program, but again, the girls
faced another challenge from a competitive ULL team. The Cowgirls
started and ended strong in the game making the score 3-0, with
goals from 3 different seniors, Morgan Middleton, Dayna Garcia and
Nola Prickett. This took the Cowgirls to a 5-1 record on the season.
This is the best start to a Cowgirl Soccer season since 2013.

The Cowgirls now draw their attention to the next set

The Cowbell award is passed each week from player to player based on the per-
formance of a teammate. This award is given to the player who has displayed
consistent excellence in both practice and games. This player is a key contribu-
tor on the field and also brings intensity and focus to every training session. The
first week of season, it was given to Emma Roccaforte for her performance and
intensity in practice. The following week, the Cowbell was passed to Morgan
Middleton, for her consistency and hard work in the games that weekend. These
two girls will be deciding who next receives the Cowbell award!
of challenges that are at UTRGV and UH this coming
weekend. The Cowgirls with travel to Rio Grande Val-
ley and Houston for the weekend! This will be the first
meeting of UTRGV and McNeese Soccer. UH is no
stranger to McNeese Soccer. The Cowgirls played UH
in the last Spring season and are looking to come
away with two wins on the weekend! This will be the
last weekend of preseason games for the Cowgirls as
they take on Southland team Southeastern LA on Sept
14th to open conference play!

If you haven’t noticed: Team/ Everything is this year’s slogan for our Cowgirl
Soccer Team. The slogan was made by the girl’s during their Team retreat last
spring. They discussed and came to the conclusion that the team comes first.
The Cowgirl Soccer Team is more than just a team, it’s a family.
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 GAME BALL GOES TO: REBECCA ADCOCK
Bex had a great game against PV coming out of
the game leading the teams in stats, for pass-
es completed, opportunities given and the best
1v1 defender and attacker for the game!

GAME BALL GOES TO: EMMA ROCCAFORTE

Emma had a fantastic game facing 29 shots
and making 9 crucial saves to keep the game
from getting away from the Cowgirls at TCU.

GAME BALL GOES TO: ANNA WATSON

Anna showed her fancy footwork providing
many opportunities on goal and came out of
the game with an assist for the game winner
against Texas State.

GAME BALL GOES TO: HAVANA JOHNSON

Havana Johnson was given the game ball for
her great performance and her game winning
goal in double OT against McNeese’s first SEC
opponent, Arkansas.

GAME BALL GOES TO:

Dayna Garcia received the game ball for inten-
sity coming into to game. She completely
changed the tempo and led the Cowgirls to a 2-
1 win in OT against the Warhawks.

GAME BALL GOES TO:

The Senior class is receiving this game’s recognition for their
superb leadership on the field. All 3 goals came from Seniors and
each senior had a remarkable game, At the end, all seniors were
on the bench cheering on all the freshmen who entered the game.

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Cowgirl Fans,

It has been a whirlwind since we began preseason on August 1st. During two-a-days and chalk talks and team building activities.
On the field we couldn’t be more pleased with the effort and intensity your Cowgirls are bringing to the pitch. They are a relentless group
that is focused on one thing: winning. Two Sundays ago they did what no McNeese Soccer team has done before; they took down SEC mem-
ber Arkansas 3-2 in double over-time for arguably the biggest non-conference win in school history. And they did in on National TV! The
girls followed that up with two more big home wins vs. UL-M and UL-L and we really looked at our best vs. UL-L so it’s good to see that pro-
gress.
Now our job is to re-focus and get prepared for the upcoming weekends. Ultimately the non-conference schedule is about getting pre-
pared for the conference season so we don’t worry too much about the results; just about playing our best and getting better each
match. That said, we’d rather learn from winning than learn from losing and your Cowgirls are fighting hard to win each match.
Thank you for joining our Striker Club and being part of our program. Without your support this program would not be where it is today
and we are forever grateful.

Sincerely,

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