Women's Soccer | 9/20/2018 8:34:00 AM

Lady Braves Begin Conference Action this Weekend at GSU, UAPB

RUSTON, La. – The Alcorn State University soccer program will kick-off its conference schedule this weekend with a 4:30 p.m. Friday match at Grambling State at the GSU Soccer Commplex, followed by a 1 p.m. Sunday contest at Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Pumphrey Stadium.
 
The Lady Braves will have a fresh start after a challenging 0-5 non-conference slate. Alcorn scored three goals in non-conference play including two by senior Yaira Guardado and one by freshman Johanna Seelhorst.
 
Alcorn's best half came in the first against LSU-Alexandria on Sept. 14. The team jumped out to a 2-0 lead and was still ahead 2-1 at the break. Though, the Generals were able to claw back for a 4-2 result.
 
"We're going into conference play pretty banged up. Currently, about 50 percent of our team is out with injuries. However, we are not daunted. We believe that in spite of our current situation, we can compete and our situation will improve," said Alcorn head coach Junior Noel.
 
Guardado has led the team with 13 shots on the year including eight on-goal. Freshman Shalisha King has anchored the back line in all five matches.
 
"We've been working hard, watching film and checking our little mistakes and errors that we've done throughout the games. We're trying to fix that in practices and we're doing way better," Guardado said.
 
The Lady Braves have used both goalkeepers equally, as junior Giselle Rojas and sophomore Kameran Proby have played an identical 225 minutes. Proby, who missed last weekend due to injury, has made 22 saves, while Rojas has blocked 21.
 
GSU (3-6) has wins over Nicholls 2-1, LSU-Shreveport 1-0 and Texas A&M-Texarkana. Five of the 11 team's goals have been scored by Kailey Pena who has come off the bench nearly half the time.
 
UAPB has only played three games this year with losses to Little Rock 7-0, Central Arkansas 4-0 and Abilene Christian 4-0. The Golden Lions will host Mississippi Valley State on Friday before welcoming the Lady Braves.
 
Last year, Alcorn beat GSU 2-0 but fell to UAPB 4-2.
 
#FearTheBrave