THIBODAUX, La. – Annick Zouma and Grace Ambrose each netted a hat-trick in a wild back-and-forth affair, and Alcorn outlasted Nicholls 7-4 on Thursday night in nonconference women's soccer action at Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex. The Braves survived a pair of lead changes in a shootout that saw the two teams combine for 11 goals.
 
Alcorn trailed twice as the Braves were tied on the scoreboard three times before finally pulling away in the final 20 minutes, improving to 1-2-0 on the young season. Nicholls, which got a hat trick's worth of production spread across three different scorers, fell to 1-1-1.
 
Annick Zouma set the tone in the 10th minute, burying a penalty kick to answer Nicholls' Sammi Doyle, who had opened the scoring just four minutes earlier off a free kick set up by Alyssa Wheeler. Zouma, a sophomore forward from Yaoundé, Cameroon, finished the night with three goals on six shots – five of them on frame – controlling the attack from the forward spot all night long.
 
But it was Grace Ambrose (Aba, Nigeria) – the current Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Offensive Player of the Week, who did the heaviest lifting in the run of play.
 
The junior forward broke the first-half tie with an unassisted strike in the 35th minute for her second goal of the season, then took over in the second half, scoring twice more in a five-minute span to complete her hat-trick. The first came off a feed from Rebecca Kwoba in the 51st minute, then again in the 56th minute on an assist from Ainara Aldeano, pushing Alcorn in front for good at 4-3. She added an assist of her own late, setting up Zouma's third goal of the night in the 81st minute, and finished with four goals and an assist on six shots.
 
For Alcorn, it was the first time the Braves had multiple players register a hat-trick in a single game since Jailyn Ward and Mikayla Duncan accomplished the feat in a 13-0 rout of Tougaloo (Miss.) on September 15, 2023.
 
However, Nicholls would not go away quietly.
 
Jessica Avonyo tied the match at 2-2 just before halftime, and the Colonels came out of the break firing, with Doyle notching her second goal of the match in the 48th minute off a give-and-go with Jezlyn Nelson and Alyssa Wheeler to put Nicholls back in front, 3-2.
 
The Colonels' Wheeler later leveled the score a third time at 4-4 in the 63rd minute with an unassisted finish, keeping the hosts within striking distance deep into the second half.
 
That's when Alcorn's speed began to take over.
 
Leyla Llanos Boursiquot set up Zouma for the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute, and less than a minute and a half later, substitute Larissa Joso Luma buried a feed from Bernita Baafi to make it 6-4 and put real distance between the two sides for the first time all night. Zouma capped the scoring in the 81st minute, finishing off a pass from Ambrose to make it 7-4 and put the game away.
 
For the Purple and Gold, the win marked consecutive wins over Nicholls in the history of the series, after the Braves took a 3-1 win from the Colonels last season in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Alcorn out-shot Nicholls 18-12 for the match and held a commanding 13-4 edge in shots on target, a sign of just how much of the offensive pressure the Braves generated even as the score stayed tight for long stretches. The Braves also won the corner kick battle 6-3 and were whistled offside five times to Nicholls' zero, evidence of an attack that was constantly pushing the pace up the field.
 
Bailey Perales (Fremont, Calif.) earned the win in goal for Alcorn despite allowing four goals, picking up her first decision of the year after playing the full 90 minutes between the sticks. Aislinn Wright turned in six saves in a losing effort for Nicholls, falling to 1-1-1.
 
Luma picked up a yellow card in the 78th minute, the lone card of the match for either side, after inadvertently wasting time with a kick of the ball away as time wound down.
 
Alcorn will look to carry the momentum from Thursday's offensive explosion into its next outing, as the Braves travel to Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponent Mississippi State on Sunday, August 30, in Starkville, Mississippi.
 
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