LORMAN, Miss. - The Alcorn State University women's soccer team returns to action this week as the Lady Braves face off with East Texas Baptist Thursday and Nicholls State Friday. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. opening kicks at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
"We want to get better with each game," said head coach Junior Noel. "The first game was about getting to know our team and identifying where we are and what we need to work on. We've been working hard this past week and I expect to see a marked improvement."Â
In the season opener against New Mexico State, redshirt-sophomore Rita Okoro placed two of her five shots on target and redshirt-senior Viktoriya Mihaylova added a pair of shots with one on goal. Sophomore Giselle Rojas faced 11 shots and made three saves in goal. Senior Priscilla Guardado was named SWAC Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday.
"This past week, we worked on organization, both defensively and offensively," added Noel. "I want to get us to a point where we know exactly what the next person is going to do. We need to understand not only our position, but also the role of the person ahead of us. We need to know exactly what to do and when to do it so that we are more organized and disciplined."
East Texas Baptist | Sept. 7 | 4 p.m.
ETBU (1-2), an NCAA Division III member of the American Southwest Conference, was tapped to finish fifth in the ASC Preseason Poll. The Tigers have 14 returnees from a 2016 squad that finished the season 6-8-4, including All-Conference selections Heather Brady, Claire Hamilton, and Abbey Sturdivant. All three were named to the ASC Preseason Watch List.
The team is coming off a 1-0 home loss to Hendrix College this past Tuesday. Ashleigh Rondon and Chase Swann scored ETBU's two goals in the Tigers' 2-1 win over Texas Lutheran on Sept. 3. Keeper Karrigan Falber has started all three games and is 1-1 with four goals allowed and six saves.
Thursday marks the first meeting between the two programs.
Nicholls State | Sept. 8 | 4 p.m.
NSU (2-2) is coming off a pair of wins over SWAC schools with a 1-0 decision at Grambling State on Sept. 1 and a 3-0 tally at Jackson State last Sunday. Five different Colonels have scored, with Kristy Helmers and Kirstie Champagne adding assists to lead the team with three points each. Keeper Roosa Hurmerinta owns a 2-2 record with 16 saves against four goals allowed.
The Colonels were picked 10th in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll and return 17 letterwinners and six starters from a 2016 squad that went 6-8-2.
Friday's game is the seventh meeting between the two teams, with NSU owning a 6-0 record in the all-time series.
#FearTheBrave
