MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) postseason race heating up and a grand opportunity for teams to improve their conference standings, the Alabama State University women's soccer team cashed in, scoring a single-game program record 12 goals in a shutout, Senior Day victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday evening at the ASU Soccer Complex.
The Hornets (2-10-2, 2-3-1 SWAC) got started early and never let off the gas, as it put 24 shots on target and attempted 45 shots overall while attempting 12 corner kicks, all of which overwhelmed the Golden Lions (1-11-0, 0-5-0) defense that made 12 saves but couldn't stop 12 more shots from going into the net.
The home team controlled the game from start to finish, and goals came at the blink of an eye, with head coach
Alicia Wilson and company going deep into the bench to get the whole squad involved.
Tamami Nishio got things started with a third-minute goal, and not more than eight minutes later, sophomore
Serenity Safeeullah landed her first goal of the night. It would be the opener to a hat trick for the second-year striker, who matched her team-leading total of goals in 2025 (3) in one night with two more strikes in the 64th and 82nd minutes, the latter coming on a penalty kick.
Rookie
Kiana Lopez Wilson scored her first goal in the 20th minute, ending the day with a brace after scoring the 12th and final goal in the game's final seconds. Upperclassmen midfielders
Sydney Washington and
Ariana James broke through for their first goals of the season, as did defender
Tiana Griego in the 69th minute with an assist from Washington.
Dominant defender
Queenster Mensah, who was an anchor for a unit that allowed three off-target shots on the day, recorded a 72nd-minute goal from a Safeeullah assist and doubled up minutes later with a solo strike in the 74th.
The eighth and final scorer was
Adriana Gallucci, who came off the bench and landed a strong strike past the goalkeeper in the 82nd minute.
Lopez Wilson and Nishio, the latter being the team's leading scorer coming into the day, led the team with seven shots, while Mensah and Safeeullah each had five. Those four individuals also led the way with four attempts on target apiece, combining for 16 of the team's 24 total on-target shots. Washington, who had four shot attempts of her own, added a pair of assists for four total points in her 80 minutes of action.
The Lady Hornet keepers split time in the box, with neither facing a shot and senior
Deetya Satyal picking up the victory. Zakhariah Jones allowed four goals in 55 minutes of action and made seven saves before giving way to Arie Parker, who made three saves and had eight scores go by her into the net in the remaining time on the pitch.
The program record goal mark broke a record that has stood for eight years, topping a 10-0 win the team had over Alcorn State in September 2018. The eight different goal scorers were also a team record, eclipsing the six-scorer mark set in the same game against the Braves.
The Lady Hornets look to ride this victory into the final two games of the regular season, as it takes on Southern on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at A. W. Mumford Stadium before returning home to face Jackson State on Sunday, Nov. 1, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at the ASU Soccer Complex.
