PINEVILLE, La. – A year ago, Louisiana College women's soccer coach Bruce Deaton had barely enough to stage a practice but not enough to have a true scrimmage. On the eve of Thursday's season opener, the 2011 Lady Cats boast a loaded roster and winning attitude.

The Louisiana College women debut Thursday night at 5 p.m. with a home match against Millsaps.
There is no cost to attend the game but fans unable to be in Pineville will, for the first time, have the benefit of live updates via the official Louisiana College athletics Twitter page (@LaColAthletics).

“I'm extremely excited about the start of a new season,” Deaton said. “The competition within the team has helped everybody to grow and develop as players. Every time we've been on the field for training, I've noticed the quality of our play becoming better and better. That's directly attributable to everyone working so much harder.”

The 2011 Lady Cats enter the season 24 strong. Nine upperclassmen return from 2010, a year in which rebuilding LC went 0-17-1, with 15 new players looking to help bring the program to new heights.

“We have 15 new players, 12 true freshmen and three transfers,” Deaton said, “and each of them brings a set of skills that will enhance the skills of those who were already here and elevate the overall quality of the team.”

Among the returning players are junior goalie Emily Breaux, who last year led the American Southwest Conference and nation in saves, as well as junior midfielder Martha Means, a team captain as a sophomore and player Deaton pointed to as a true leader.

“We feel like we're moving in the right direction,” Means said. “We're still building, of course, but we've got a great group of freshmen and the upperclassmen who remain are a dedicated group who've stuck it out through the tough times.”

Only weeks ago, Deaton's team reported for its first day of training. With so many new faces, it would have been easy for the Lady Cats to fall behind. Not so, said Means.

“We set the precedent for what these girls could expect during the recruiting process,” Means said. “Over the summer, we as upperclassmen stayed in contact with all the commitments. We wanted them to know that this would be a different season. We got them a workout manual and made ourselves available to help. That's something we didn't have when I first got here, but we wanted everyone to be able to prepare for the first day so we could hit the ground running. And that's what we were able to do.”

Now, rather than trying to mold a team into a functioning unit, Deaton is able to focus his energy more on improving the quality of play.

“Right now, what I am preaching is quality and having a purpose in everything we do,” Deaton said. “We need to work better in groups and as a team overall. Like I tell the girls all the time, I'm pretty simple to understand. I want to keep the ball out the back of our net and put it in the back of theirs. If we can begin to possess with a purpose, we'll go a long way in achieving that.”

The Lady Cats will follow their Thursday night season opener with a Saturday afternoon home match against Spring Hill, and NAIA team from Mobile, Ala. Game time Saturday will be 1 p.m.

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