EDINBURG, Texas| Alabama State dropped a 6-1 decision to Fairleigh Dickinson in the season-opener at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex Thursday afternoon.
The match, the first of the day in the UTRGV Tournament, saw the Burgundy and Blue jump out to an early lead in the first half as they used a goal in the 21st minute from Sofia Albertsson to grab a 1-0 lead. They added to the lead in the 33rd minute when Maja Skansberg, before Naemi Hausen pushed the lead to 3-0 at the intermission.
FDU got on the board again with a pair of goals just four minutes apart, before
Fabienne Balvers got Alabama State on the board with a goal in the 69th minute to trim the deficit. FDU added a late goal for the final margin.
QUOTABLE (head coach Jodie Smith)
"I felt like we started the game well, creating a few chances early. But as the game went on, we became careless with the ball and lost our organization defensively."
"On the plus side, we had a nice sequence with Fabienne (Balvers) getting our first goal of the season off a great pass from Meaghan (Fielding). We also had five freshmen in the lineup that got their first taste of Division I soccer."
UP NEXT
Alabama State returns to the pitch Saturday night against the host team UTRGV in the final match of the tournament. The match is scheduled to start at 7 pm Saturday.
HOW TO WATCH
Alabama State at Texas Rio Grande Valley (Saturday, August 24) – 7 pm
Live Stats | Watch Live (WAC Digital Network)
NOTEWORTHY
Balvers scored her first career goal, the lone goal scored by Alabama State in the season opener. The sophomore took just one-shot last season.
Alabama State dropped their ninth consecutive season opener going back to 2011 but scored a goal in their second consecutive opener.
The Lady Hornets are now 0-1 against Fairleigh Dickinson and will face UTRGV for the first time in school history Saturday.
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