BATON ROUGE, LA — Southern University women's soccer opened its 2026 season Thursday evening with a 4-0 loss to Florida Gulf Coast at A.W. Mumford Stadium.
The Lady Jaguars (0-1) held the Eagles scoreless for more than 38 minutes before FGCU broke through late in the opening half. Ryleigh Acosta scored the match's first goal in the 39th minute off an assist from Maya Henley Buisan. Sarah Greiner followed with an unassisted goal in the 43rd minute, sending Southern into halftime trailing 2-0.
FGCU (1-1-1) extended its advantage early in the second half when Acosta converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute for her second goal of the night. Kaitlin Gabelman closed the scoring in the 85th minute, finishing an assist from Ava Russell to give the Eagles their fourth goal.
Southern goalkeeper Sydney Whitten played all 90 minutes and recorded five saves in the season opener. FGCU finished with an 11-0 advantage in shots, including a 9-0 edge in shots on goal. The Eagles also held a 2-1 advantage in corner kicks, while Southern committed nine fouls to FGCU's 11.
Despite the final margin, the Lady Jaguars kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for much of the first half. Whitten made saves in the 23rd and 35th minutes before FGCU scored twice over the final seven minutes of the period.
Southern generated its lone corner kick in the 62nd minute but was unable to register a shot. The Lady Jaguars finished with 45% possession, compared with 55% for the Eagles.
The match drew an announced crowd of 245 and lasted 1 hour, 57 minutes.
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