MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama A&M (4-11-2, 2-5-2 SWAC) delivered a solid first half of defense before surrendering a pair of scores in the second half as they closed out the regular season with a 3-1 loss at Alabama State (6-7-4, 4-2-3 SWAC) in an NCAA Division I women's soccer game on Friday, October 28.
Offense would be at a premium over the first 45 minutes as the teams combined for just five shots, three by A&M and two by the Hornets. After having their first attempt blocked with just under six minutes gone by, ASU would capitalize just over six minutes later as Kassandra Schoen found McKinley Hacker in front of the net. The latter would then drive the ball to the lower left corner for a 1-0 lead with 12:22 gone by.
That would be the last attempt for Alabama State in the first half and the Bulldogs nearly delivered the equalizer as senior defender
Taylor Watson (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) banged one off the post exactly nine minutes later.
From there, it would be nearly 20 minutes before they would get another shot off, sending one high in the 41
st minute before graduate midfielder
Tateyana Pitter (Kingston, Jamaica) put one on frame at 42:28. Sheila Sanchez' save on that ball then closed out the offense as the clubs headed to the break with that one goal margin.
ASU would come out offensive minded in the second half, however, registering four of their eight shots in the first 18-plus minutes. The last of those would come off the foot of Grace Norbury as she took a pass from Isabella Beortegui and buried into he top right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead at the 63:43 mark.
Five minutes later the Bulldogs would get off the deck as junior defender
Victoria Mealing (Alexandria, Va.) corralled a ball in front of the goal and drove it top middle to halve the lead to 2-1 with 68:46 gone by. The Hornets would respond with three shots, one on frame, over the next 15 minutes but could not find the back of the net. Such would be the case for Watson on a low line drive at 81:36.
That scoring drought would be snapped less than four minutes later, however, as it would be Schoen's turn to be on the receiving end as she made good on a pass from Brooklyn Broderick. She lofted the ball into the upper left corner to put the game away and reach the eventual final margin of 3-1 at the 85:03 mark.
Mealing led the way for the Bulldogs with the lone goal on the night with Watson registering a pair of shots, one on frame. Freshman goalkeeper Ma'Kayla Prince (Hamilton, Ohio) went the distance in net, making a pair of saves and allowing three goals to fall to 1-3-1 on the year.
Schoen anchored the Hornets' performance with a goal and an assist while Norbury and Hacker each added solo scores. Beortegui added an assist and Sanchez played all 90 minutes in goal, allowing just one score against three saves to improve to 6-6-3.
Having closed out the regular season, the Bulldogs have earned the No. 8 seed in the 2022 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament and will take on league champion Jackson State on Thursday, November 3. That quarterfinal matchup will take place in Prairie View, Texas with game time yet to be determined.
