LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's soccer program saw junior Mireya Gonzalez cash in a goal and an assist while senior Anouchka Berthelot knocked in her first Lady Braves goal on the evening, but the Lady Hornets held off a late comeback attempt to escape with a 3-2 victory.
The beginning of the match did not look good for the purple and gold as Alabama State went up 3-0 with a Mary Martin Mooneyham goal in the 33rd minute.
Mireya Gonzalez would respond immediately, drilling a curving shot into the top right-corner of the net to close the gap to two 19 seconds later (3-1).
Both sides had their opportunities over the next 45 minutes and 22 seconds but neither side could capitalize until Anouchka Berthelot bent one past the outstretched arms of ASU's Hrafnhildur Hjaltalin with an assist from Gonzalez with just over ten minutes remaining.
Alcorn had a chance to tie it up with a breakaway by Gonzalez in the waning moments but a defensive stop by the Lady Hornets sealed a hard-fought defeat for the Lady Braves.
"A tough loss tonight and a tough pill to swallow, however, I must commend the team for the way they competed. We made a couple of minor adjustments this past week which offered a bit more comfort for some in the certain areas, while sharing the workload more evenly throughout the team," said Head Coach Junior Noel. "All in all our best showing for the season thus far. Now we have to duplicate or better on Sunday and beyond. I'm proud of my girls!"
Four separate Lady Braves contributed shots on goal as Berthelot, Gonzalez, sophomore Sarah-Joy Romain and senior Christina Grybos all took a rip on net. Paula Solé Cabeza also posted a shot as well.
Freshman Kali Helms notched eight saves while shutting out the black and gold over the final 56:13 to move into fourth on the single-season saves list as she now has 92 through ten matches played.
With her three points on the night (one goal, one assist), Mireya Gonzalez is now tied for fourth in program history with three career assists and tied for seventh on the all-time points leaderboard at 11.
Alcorn tied its season-best with seven shots to go along with tying for its most shots on goal during SWAC play so far with four.
The Lady Braves wrap-up its four-game homestand with Alabama A&M on Sunday afternoon as kickoff is set to begin at 1 p.m. inside Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
#FearTheBrave
