METAIRIE, La. — All-star forward Samira Roper scored in both halves Tuesday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a season-opening 2-0 women's soccer victory against the University of Mobile at Lafreniere Park.
        XULA goalkeeper Luisa Bella worked all 90 minutes and produced three saves to improve her career record to 6-1 with five shutouts.
        "It's good to finally get the first game under our belt," said XULA head coach Ashley Cordeiro, whose 2023 and 2024 teams opened with 5-1 losses but reached the second round of NAIA nationals. "There's still plenty of areas we want to clean up before going into the next game, but lots of positives to take away from today too. It's always nice to start off with a win and a clean sheet at home."
        Roper — the Louisiana and Red River Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and second-team CSC NAIA Academic All-America® in 2024 — scored from point-blank range in the fifth minute after a right-side pass from Juliana Kottbauer. Roper scored in the 72nd minute on a penalty kick after a foul in the box.
        Kottbauer, a junior, was one of four first-year XULA midfielders who started. The others were freshman Keira Hardstaff, junior Anita Roese and sophomore Lea Cordier.
        Best scoring opportunity for Mobile (1-1) was in the 57th minute, when Charlotte Malamaire shot it high from the middle of the field and about 15 yards away.
        Weather at kickoff (11:33 a.m. CDT): sunny, 90 degrees, heat index 99, humidity 58 percent, east-northeast wind at 10 mph.
        Next for XULA will be three consecutive road games against ranked NAIA opponents: Sept. 5 at No. 20 Life, Sept. 7 at No. 22 Georgia Gwinnett and Sept. 13 at No. 5 William Carey. The Gold Nuggets' next home game will be their Red River opener, 1 p.m. Sept. 25 against Texas College at Lafreniere.