HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama A&M (3-7-1, 2-1-0 SWAC) could not recover from a pair of first half goals that resulted in a 3-2 decision at the hands of Prairie View (5-2-2, 3-0-0 SWAC) in an NCAA Division I women's soccer game on Friday, October 1.
In a battle of first place teams, the Panthers were the first to get on the scoreboard as Jojo Bernal and Sonia Fuentes found Regan Scott. The latter then drove the ball to the back left corner of the net for a 1-0 margin at the 16-minute mark.
Ten minutes later PVAMU would extend their lead as Bety Hernandez-Ortega would take a feed from Lesa Griffin and proceed to put it in the bottom left corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead at 26:09.
Over the next 20 minutes, neither team would generate any offense and would head to the half with that 2-0 margin.
The Panthers came out of the half determined to build upon their lead as Samantha Morgan would score a penalty kick at the 53:15 mark. The Bulldogs would respond as junior midfielder
Alana Paul (Clinton, Md.) would team up with junior forward
Laura Jansa (Barcelona, Spain) who then drilled the ball to the top middle of the net to cut the score to 3-1 at the 57:49 mark.
Four minutes later junior forward
Makayla Rushing (Red Oak, Texas) would take it herself, as she drove a loose ball that a host of Bulldogs were scrambling to connect with to the bottom right side of the goal with 12 minutes left. That would be the last goal of the game as the Panthers closed out the 3-2 decision.
Both Rushing and Paul fueled the offense for the Bulldogs with one goal apiece, while Jansa had one assist. Senior goalkeeper
Jodi Medina (Coral Springs, Fla.) played all 90 minutes, making 11 saves and allowing three goals to fall to 3-7-1.
Morgan, Hernandez-Ortega and Scott led the offense for Prairie View with one score each while Bernal and Fuentes had an assist apiece. Quinn Josiah anchored the defense as she went the distance, playing all 90 minutes in net making four saves and allowing two goals in net.
The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday, October 3 as they host Texas Southern at 1 p.m. That game will be played at the Merrimack Soccer Complex Field 11 across from Milton Frank Stadium.
