Morgan City's Toups inks with Louisiana College

Morgan City High School soccer coach Trevor Patterson said when Louisiana College soccer coach Sam Etherington came to Morgan City to watch the Lady Tigers game in December against H.L. Bourgeois, she actually was looking at an H.L. Bourgeois player.
While Morgan City lost the game, 3-0, by the time Etherington, a former Nicholls soccer player, left Morgan City, the Lady Tigers goalkeeper, Hannah Toups, had caught her eye, Patterson said.
Now, fast forward nearly five months to the day of that match, family and friends of Toups gathered for a signing ceremony Tuesday for her to affirm her commitment to the Louisiana College soccer program.
“I’m very excited to continue my soccer career at the next level, and I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “I’m glad it doesn’t have to end here.”
Toups will be looking to play either midfield or at goalkeeper at the college level, a task that is nothing new to her as she played multiple positions in high school.
“Great player on both sides, and Sam, the Louisiana College coach, she’s seen that,” said Patterson, who has known Toups and coached her for approximately 10 years.
Toups said Etherington told her she may be able to start as early as her freshman season.
“She said that depending on my skill level compared to her goalie now, I could either be the main goalie or I’ll be playing on the field and be a backup if they need it because they also need field players,” Toups said.
As for which one she likes better, it doesn’t matter. She just wants to be where the action is.
“I don’t really have a preference,” she said. “It just depends on the other team that we’re playing. Like if they’re going to be taking a lot of shots, I’d like to be goalie and if not, then I’d rather be on the field.”
Louisiana College, a Division III university in Pineville, finished this past season with a 5-14 overall mark and a 2-9 record in the American Southwest Conference.
Patterson called Toups a “great kid.”
“I’m a small part of her coaching staff,” he noted, crediting others, including Morgan City assistant coach Jorge Hernandez.
However, Patterson said he’s proud to be part of it.
“I know at the next level, she will do Louisiana College proud,” he said.