HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With the close of the most unique season in program history, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office is counting down the Top-10 stories of the 2020-21 season throughout the summer. Today, we continue with the No. 9 story of the season – Women's Soccer Dominates With Defense In Spring Campaign.
 
Make sure to check www.AAMUSports.com every Friday to catch the latest release.
 
Story No. 9: Women's Soccer Produces Record-Setting Defensive Effort In Spring Campaign
As a program with multiple double-digit win seasons, Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships (SWAC) and an NCAA Division I Tournament berth in its history, to be able to say that you have accomplished something no other team has done speaks volumes.
 
That is exactly the case for the Spring 2021 Alabama A&M women's soccer team, which completed the most unique season in program history, playing eight games this spring. While a 4-4 record may not elicit thoughts of record performances, one need only to look at those eight outings.
 
None of them would see the Bulldogs surrender more than two goals in any one game and they would go on to post four shutouts, the most since the 2007 team recorded seven. In one of those rare two goal instances, a narrow 2-1 overtime loss to Grambling (3/5), they would hold the nation's second leading scorer, Kailey Pena, to just one goal.
 
While perhaps the most high profile opponent, she would be far from the only one to fall victim to A&M's defense as they blanked Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3/7) 2-0 their next time out. They would then hit their stride in a nine day stretch in late March to accomplish something no other Bulldog team had done.
 
That would begin on March 19 when they delivered the first of three straight 1-0 shutout victories, marking the first time in program history that the team had managed that feat. Following that home victory over Alcorn State, the Bulldogs would hit the road for impressive 1-0 blankings of Texas Southern (3/26) and Prairie View A&M (3/28).
 
Including the final 42:56 at Jackson State (3/12) and the first 64:15 of a narrow 2-1 overtime loss at eventual SWAC Champion Alabama State (4/2), Alabama A&M logged a total of 377 scoreless minutes and allowed just seven goals all year over eight games.
 
Those performances would not go unnoticed both throughout and after the season as the Bulldogs garnered four SWAC weekly honors.
 
The bulk of those would come on March 12 when senior goalkeeper Jodi Medina (Coral Springs, Fla.), sophomore forward Jameela Barrett (London, England) and senior defender Khadijah Shakirof (Ajax, Ontario, Canada) swept the league awards. Medina would then add a second honor on March 31.
 
An impressive return to the field would then be capped by three All-SWAC selections, with sophomore midfielder Makayla Rushing (Red Oak, Texas) earning First-Team honors. She would be joined by Barrett and Medina on the Second-Team.
 
The three selections would match the total from the previous five years combined and equal the number of honorees from the 2007, 2010 and 2013 teams. In addition to the most All-SWAC choices in eight years, the latter would also be the most since the 2006 team delivered seven.
 
Rushing would also become the first First-Team honoree for the program since Ana Huertas in 2013 and Medina just the second goalkeeper to earn All-Conference. She joined two-time selection Priscilla Mensah (2003 First-Team, 2006 Second-Team) and the first to be named to the team in 15 years.
 
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2021-22 preseason, the SID Office will release the list one at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 4. The No. 1 story in Alabama A&M Athletics, as chosen by the Sports Information Office, will be released on Friday, August 6.
 
Countdown to the Top-10 Alabama A&M Athletics Stories from 2020-21
No. 1 – Coming August 6
No. 2 – Coming July 30
No. 3 – Coming July 23
No. 4 – Coming July 16
No. 5 – Coming July 9
No. 6 – Coming July 2
No. 7 – Coming June 25
No. 8 – Coming June 18
No. 9 – Women's Soccer Produces Record-Setting Defensive Effort In Spring Campaign (June 11)
No. 10 – Baseball Delivers DI Era Record-Tying Seven-Game Win Streak (June 4)
Honorable Mention (June 2)