PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas. - The Alcorn State University women's soccer team, the No. 8 seed in the 2017 SWAC Championships, will meet the No. 1 seed and reigning champion Alabama State Thursday in a 10 a.m. opening-round match at Prairie View A&M's Soccer Complex.
Live stats for the game can be found here.
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"We've prepared pretty well so far," said head coach Junior Noel. "We've had some ups and downs, but I think we match up well with Alabama State and we competed with them when we were at home. We're at a neutral site now and I think that we can do well. Our objective was to get to the tournament and once we get there, we're going to be dancing and everyone is going to take note."
Redshirt-sophomore Rita Okoro, who earned All-Conference First Team honors, paces Alcorn's offense with nine goals and an assist. She is followed by senior Alexandra Salvador with three goals and an assist, with redshirt-senior Viktoriya Mihaylova adding a pair of scores with an assist. Freshman keeper Kameran Proby sports a 4-7 record with a pair of shutouts. The McDonough, Ga. native faced 141 shots in the regular season and recorded 62 saves.
Alabama State | Nov. 2 | 10 a.m.
The Lady Hornets (10-7, 8-2 SWAC) locked up the top seed in the tournament with a 4-0 decision at Alabama A&M last Thursday and ended the regular season on a four-match win streak. Ariela Lewis was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, Mercedes Padilla earned the Defensive Player of the Year, and Gianna Guyot received Goalkeeper of the Year. The defending conference champions also had four student-athletes named to the All-Conference First Team and one to the Second Team.
The two squads met in Lorman, Miss. on Sept. 22 to open conference play this season. Salvador put Alcorn in control with a score in the 84th minute, but ASU netted a quick pair late to escape with a 2-1 victory. Okoro took six shots, placing three on goal, and was followed by Salvador with three shots and junior Yaira Guardado with a pair. Proby played the full match and registered eight saves.
The Lady Braves (4-9, 3-7 SWAC) held the advantage in corner kicks (6-4), saves (8-5), and fouls (8-11).
Thursday's game marks Alcorn's first post-season appearance since 2011 and its third in school history since the program started in 2003. The Lady Braves fell to Grambling State in the opening round of the 2009 championships and lost on penalty kicks to Southern in the first round of the 2011 tournament.
#FearTheBrave
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