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 may have had this home contest against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions circled on its calendar as a golden opportunity to solidify a spot in the SWAC Championship Tournament in a couple of weeks.
However you want to explain it, the home team executed and delivered all night long.
The Lady Hornets (2-10-2, 2-3-1 SWAC) threw out the program record book and rewrote it with some updated revisions on Thursday afternoon, claiming a 12-0 victory in a shutout performance on a night where it honored seniors
Madeline Dicksey,
Neysa Misita,
Ariana James and
Deetya Satyal prior to the game.
As a team, the Hornets took 59 shot attempts, 27 of which were on target. Those marks, along with the 12 goals and 33 points, all broke eight-year-old records from a September 2018 contest against Alcorn State, a 10-0 victory that featured 44 shots, 24 on-target attempts and 30 total points. Alabama State also added a season-high 14 corner kicks, many of which served as great assists that added to the thrill of the win over the Golden Lions (1-11-0, 0-5-0 SWAC).
Things got started quickly with a third-minute goal from rookie
Tamami Nishio, who had been a big factor in one of the team's biggest outings to date – scoring her two prior goals in a 2-2 draw over Arkansas State.
The offense stayed hot, as
Queenster Mensah found
Serenity Safeeullah for a second goal in the 10th minute. It was her first goal of the year, and for Mensah, her team-leading second assist of the 2026 season.
Kiana Lopez Wilson and
Sydney Washington, the latter of whom was a significant playmaker off the right side of the attack, recorded their first goals of the season in the latter part of the first half. Both were assisted, as
Adriana Gallucci and
Aslaug Bratheim sent pivotal passes to their teammates to help the Hornets build a 4-0 first-half advantage. For Washington, it was her second goal in her third season with the team, as her last strike was a game-winning tally against the Golden Lions in her freshman campaign, where she helped ASU to a 3-2 win.
The Lady Hornets continued its domination of possession, immediately attempting five shots (three on target) in the first five minutes, and went on to control most of the action for the ensuing ten minutes. James, one of the aforementioned seniors recognized before the match, opened the second half scoring with a strike off a Washington assist. The fourth-year Hornet scored her first goal of the season and third of her career, with her last one coming in October of 2024 in a win over Mississippi Valley State.
Three minutes later, Safeeullah notched a brace with the team's sixth goal of the afternoon, this time unassisted and following a stellar effort by junior
Lamya Foughal. The next three minutes saw three more goals cross the plane, one by
Tiana Griego in the 69th for her first goal at ASU, and two more goals, both in the 74th minute, both scored by Mensah to put the Hornets up 9-0.
The goal that tied the program record came off of a ricochet from a UAPB player and found the boot of Gallucci, who made a highlight-reel bicycle kick in the 83rd minute to send Bama State into double digits.
As Lopez Wilson was making another attack inside the box, the UAPB keeper committed a foul, granting the home team a penalty try. Safeeullah, who already dominated the game with two goals early on, found the back of the net on the free try, setting a new single-game goal record and securing her first career hat trick in the process.
Late in the game, defender
Rhamsey Griffith fired a ball ahead to an onside Bratheim, who outran a flock of Golden Lions defenders to score the 12th and final goal of the game, her first in Black and Gold.
Altogether, nine different goal scorers found the back of the net for the Hornets, most in program history. Safeeullah's penalty goal extended a perfect penalty streak the Hornets are on, as the team has not missed a free try since October of 2023.
The star forward's hat trick highlighted a ten-shot, seven-point effort from the Nashville, Tenn., native, who was also one of three players with five shots on frame. Mensah and Lopez Wilson, who each had eight shots overall, also had five tries on target, while three other players had at least two.
With the goal scoring spread out, Safeeullah (3) and Mensah (2) were the only ones to reach double digits. Seven individuals assisted on eight goals, with Washington leading the way with two assists on her four-point day.
In between the pipes, the Lady Hornet keepers split halves, with Satyal picking up the victory and
Slater Copeland coming in to protect the box in the second half. Not much action took place for the tandem, as Satyal was the only one to face an on-target try, although the team ended up saving it and sending it the other way. On the other end, 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 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.
