PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – On a night where eye-opening, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) soccer results shook up the league standings, a
Lamya Foughal goal for the Alabama State University women's soccer team served as the determining factor in a 1-0 win over the Prairie View A&M Panthers on Thursday evening at the PVAMU Soccer Complex.
The Lady Hornets (1-8-2, 1-1-1 SWAC) seemed to take a step forward in conference play, opening its SWAC slate with a 0-0 draw against Alcorn State, who entered the day as the conference's third-best team. A stellar effort in a one-goal defeat was its only blemish on the SWAC portion of the schedule, but it had something going for it: an aggressiveness that was on display tonight against the Panthers (2-9-1, 0-2 SWAC).
ASU got things going early on in the game, both as a midfield aggressor and on the offensive attack, where Foughal got things started with an on-target shot attempt in the 12th minute. It would continue battering the Panthers, both on the boundary and in the midfield, before two more Hornet shots were attempted 15 minutes past the initial try.
Two more followed – both low dribblers off the boot of sophomore
Aslaug Bratheim, while three more were attempted in the final five minutes of the half as Alabama State headed into the break with all the momentum on its sideline.
The visitors came out and pounced on an early advantage, as the Hornets' outside attacking midfielders pressed the Panthers in their struggles to control a loose ball. Once ASU gained full possession, it immediately sent a pass inside, where a waiting Foughal battled an off-balance PVAMU defense and came up golden, drilling the ball into the center of the goal for the go-ahead score, her first in an ASU uniform.
The play woke up the Panthers, who rattled off six straight shots in the following 20 minutes. As the clock rolled into the final third of play, both teams got into a tussle, earning two players from each side yellow cards and a heightened sense of urgency from the referees. Prairie View resumed its attack shortly thereafter, firing off three more shots before ASU battled back with pressure in the midfield and some offensive pushes of its own.
Within the final five minutes, two Prairie View A&M efforts fell short. First, a corner attempt was fired away and sent back into the box before taking a number of bounces and making its way into the back of the net, only to be nullified on an offsides call. The play, a close call by the home coach's standards, earned him a yellow card for misconduct on the sideline.
The second play came in the final 90 seconds, when a PVAMU player was making an offensive push before ending up on the ground near the front of the box. With the Panthers' coach pleading for a penalty try, the call for a corner kick was made, and the reaction of the coach earned him a red card, sending him off the pitch early shortly before Alabama State's final defensive stand sealed the victory.
It was an out-of-the-ordinary night for both sides that ended up benefiting Alabama State. The Hornets outshot the Panthers, 11-9 (6-2 advantage in on-target tries), while the teams had three corner attempts each. Foughal, Bratheim and
Kiana Lopez Wilson each had a pair of shot attempts, with the latter two placing both of theirs on frame.
The Hornets featured a pair of keepers, with starter
Deetya Satyal making a save and being responsible for the first 57 minutes to collect the team's first victory of the year. Rookie
Slater Copeland made her fourth appearance of the year and added a second save for ASU. Prairie View's Natalie Grajeda was forced to face the pressure from the visitors, making five of six saves in a losing effort.
The Hornets look to build on this game in its final five contests this season, starting with a Sunday home matchup with the Grambling State Tigers on October 11 at 1 p.m. at the ASU Soccer Complex.
