Match Preview | Alcorn Visits UAPB for Friday Night Soccer

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – On the heels of their first league win of the season, Alcorn Soccer looks to make it consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victories as the Braves travel to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m.
 
THE GAME: Alcorn Braves (3-8-1, 1-3-0 SWAC) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (8-8-1, 3-2-1 SWAC)
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m. CT
WHERE: Pumphrey Soccer Complex (Pine Bluff, Ark.)
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Alcorn is not ranked in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. Arkansas-Pine Bluff is not ranked in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Soccer this year by following the Braves on all their social media platforms. You can follow @AlcornWomensSoccer on Instagram and @AlcornSoccer on Twitter.
 
SERIES VS. ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Arkansas-Pine Bluff leads the all-time series against Alcorn by a margin of 19 wins against four losses. In fact, the Braves have dropped the last eight consecutive games to the Golden Lions, including a 2-0 decision last season. The last win for the Braves against UAPB came by way of a 3-1 score line in Lorman during the 2013 campaign. However, that win was later vacated by the NCAA under then-head coach Christie Chambers.
 
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST UAPB
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff soccer team clinched their first conference game on the road against Alcorn, 2-0 at Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium. During the first half, the Lions got out to a strong start, scoring the first goal at the one-minute mark by Jackie Stokes to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Braves were unable to respond, as the UAPB defense stepped up and went into halftime with a 1-0 lead. During the second half of play, both teams battled back and forth until UAPB's Halley Wheeler scored a corner kick for the Lions at the 68-minute mark after an assist from Stokes to increase their lead at 2-0. The Lions defense was able to lock the Braves down in the second half of the game for the shutout. Stokes led the team with an impressive goal to start out the game, seven shots, and five shots on goal.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BRAVES
A brace from Samara Nunn was aided by goals from Briana Johnson and Kaylin White to allow Alcorn Women's Soccer to defeat Prairie View A&M, 4-2 at Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium. With the game tied at 2-all in the second half, freshman defender Kaylin White collected a Rachel Rudio pass from 30 yards away and deposited it into the top-left corner with a strike from just outside the box. In netting the first goal of her collegiate career, the Alcorn defender put the Purple and Gold in front for the first time on the day in the 51st minute. From that point, the Braves would go on to put the game to bed in the 65th minute, as freshman Samara Nunn gathered an Emily Serrato through-ball and took it around Prairie View A&M goalkeeper Lauren Hermosa to comfortably slot it into the back of the net and give her side the 4-2 final margin of victory. Prairie View raced out to an early lead with a 16th-minute goal, as the visitors used Megan Howell's first goal of the season off a pair of assists by Lesa Griffin and Kamara Bradley. With the Panthers threatening moments before, as Bradley placed a rather ambitious attempt over the crossbar, it was Howell rushing past the Braves defense with a counterattack to give her side the 1-0 lead. Prairie View added to its lead in the 17th minute when Bradley was played in by Howell – the goal scorer turned provider on this attack – allowing her to get around Alcorn goalkeeper Mikayla Shaughnessy and place the ball home for the 2-0 Panthers advantage in the game. Redshirt freshman defender Briana Johnson got the Purple and Gold back into the contest just before the half-hour mark. Sophomore Charlie Bal passed down the channel to Johnson, as the Inglewood, California native then fired home her first goal of the season to bring the Braves to within 2-1 at that point. Three minutes later, Nunn registered the first of her two on the day with Serrato supplying the assist. Nunn was able to cut back onto her right foot inside the box, placing a shot low and to the keeper's right to level the score at 2-2. The game stood tied at two going into the break. The Braves controlled the ball well in attack, as Alcorn had 14 percent possession in the final third. Nunn finished with three shots on target, including her brace. D'Ana Prieto had four shots (one on goal), as well as Serrato in midfield, with the Porter, Texas junior delivering one shot on target in the contest. Johnson's one shot on target was her goal, while White delivered a pair of shots (one goal).
 
NUNN NAMED CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Days after registering her first collegiate brace, Alcorn Soccer freshman Samara Nunn was named Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the period of October 11-17, announced Tuesday afternoon from the league office in Birmingham, Alabama. Over the weekend, Samara Nunn, a 5-foot-4 rookie from Parkersburg, West Virginia, produced a pair of goals for the Braves against Prairie View A&M in helping Alcorn collect its first conference win of the 2022 campaign. The Parkersburg South High product also tallied five shots on goal over the entirety of the weekend, adding five shots and four points collectively against Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M, respectively. Nunn was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week alongside Alabama State's Elli Higashi. Higashi scored two goals for the Lady Hornets against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. She also logged four points, two shots, and two shots on goal.
 
GOALS ARE COMING
The goals have been coming this season for the Braves, as Alcorn has been held goalless in just three of the Braves 11 contests so far on the campaign. In fact, the Purple and Gold have scored two or more goals in four contests, including a 2-2 win over East Texas Baptist on the road, as well as a 4-2 win in their last outing at home to defending SWAC Champion Prairie View A&M.
 
THE ROAD, YOU SAY?
Prior to Alcorn's 2-1 win over East Texas Baptist (Sept. 4) on the road in Marshall, Texas, the Purple and Gold had never notched a win over an NCAA team in an official away match in school history. Following the win away to Centenary (La.) on Sept. 21, the Braves now have a pair of wins on the road in the same season against NCAA-affiliated institutions for the first time in school history.
 
ABOUT JACK SPINKS – MARINO CASEM STADIUM
Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium is a 22,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in Lorman, Mississippi, which is the home field of the Alcorn State University Braves football team, as well as the women's soccer team. The stadium is surrounded by the campus of Alcorn State University and is adjacent to the Davey Whitney Complex. Opened in 1992, Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium replaced Henderson Stadium. Its name is derived from former Alcorn State Braves football player Jack Spinks. The name was changed to the Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Memorial Stadium in 2011, after then Alcorn State President M. Christopher Brown II stated, "Coach Casem helped Alcorn State University Athletics increase both in stature and in reputation to become a nationally recognized university".
 
ALCORN PREDICTED TO FINISH 8TH IN SWAC
Alcorn Soccer was predicted to finish eighth in the 2022 SWAC Predicted Order of Finish, released by the league office Friday, Aug. 12, from the conference headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
UP NEXT
Alcorn quickly tries to recover from the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game to travel across the southern border into Louisiana, as the Braves face Grambling State on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m.
 
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