VICKSBURG, Miss. – The Alcorn State University women's soccer program will begin the
Kevin Larry era on Friday afternoon as the Lady Braves face Southern at 4 p.m. along with rival Jackson State Sunday at 1 p.m. in Vicksburg at the Sports Force Parks.
Coach Larry makes the short trek south to be the new man in charge, having spent last season as JSU's Assistant Coach where he helped steer the Lady Tigers to a 7-3 record in the SWAC while holding their final six opponents of the regular season scoreless in 2019.
The Lady Braves (1-15, 1-9 SWAC in 2019) return five players from last year's squad in
Mireya Gonzalez,
Anouchka Berthelot,
Shalisha King, Paula Solé Cabeza and
Sarah-Joy Romain.
Gonzalez was named to the Preseason All-SWAC First Team after earning a Second Team nod at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign. She is second on the program's all-time assists leaderboard with four, sixth in school history in points (18) and ended last season on a high note with a hat trick in the 6-3 victory over Mississippi Valley State.
Berthelot made 13 starts for the Soccer Braves a season prior, scoring a goal versus Alabama State and had a shot-on-goal percentage of 0.600.
King was a member of the 2020 Trinidad & Tobago U20 team and was a key defender for the Purple and Gold was she completed 12 complete games.
Solé Cabeza was given the team's Most Improved Award in 2019, scoring two goals against the SWAC Regular Season Champion Howard Bison and had seven shots on goal for the season.
The final returnee, Romain was a staple both on the pitch and in the classroom as she held a 4.0 GPA for both the Fall of 2019 and Spring of 2020 to go along with logging 961 minutes on defense.
Nearly half of the club's 21 players will be newcomers to "The Reservation" as nine Lady Brave freshmen will make their collegiate debuts while the transfers hail from fellow SWAC school Alabama A&M (
Jada Ward), four community colleges, a division two school (Southwest Baptist) and an NAIA institution (Doane).
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Scouting the Southern Lady Jaguars (0-1, 0-0 SWAC)
While this will be the season opener for Alcorn, SU has already had its first contest of the spring season in a 3-0 defeat at Louisiana-Monroe on February 13.
Between the pipes for the girls from Baton Rouge was Chioma Eriken who made eight saves while playing the whole match in the net.
Four of the team's five shot attempts were on target as Kiara Armstrong, Brynn Hill, Love' Tovar and Ashante Gatlin each had one shot-on-goal while Gatlin was the lone Lady Jag to have multiple shots with two.
Alcorn has more wins (4) against Southern all-time except for two teams (Arkansas-Pine Bluff & Alabama State) but can make it a three-way tie with a victory.
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Scouting the Jackson State Lady Tigers (0-1, 0-0 SWAC)
Jackson State had its first game of the campaign against Mississippi Valley State postponed and are projected to finish in third place for 2020-21.
The Blue and White bring back a Preseason All-SWAC First Teamer (Brynn Walker) as well as two Second Teamers (Caiah Smith & Meagan Howell).
Walker started all 20 games for JSU, contributing a goal and placing half of her eight shots on goal as a defender.
Smith was a midfielder but thrived on the defensive end, starting 17 matches while registering 1,420 minutes and even attempting a shot.
Howell was second on the team in points (5), Â goals (2) and assists (1) plus scored the team's only goal in a 1-0 win at UAPB.
The Lady Tigers have yet to taste defeat in this rivalry matchup, winning all 24 previous encounters with the girls from Lorman.
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#FearTheBrave
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