HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With the close of the 2021-22 campaign, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office counted down the Top-10 stories from the campaign throughout the summer. Today, we conclude with the No. 1 story of the season - Women's Soccer Delivers Impressive Accolades and Attacks Record Books.
 
Story No. 1 : Women's Soccer Delivers Impressive Accolades and Attacks Record Books
Alabama A&M women's soccer produced major accomplishments during the 2021-22 season, achieving great success both individually and as a team an effort that was highlighted by a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Co-Championship. That earned them the number two seed in the SWAC Tournament behind a 10-8-1 overall record and a sterling  8-1-0 league mark.  

AAMU kicked off the season by facing off against seven non-conference teams that included C-USA member South Alabama (8/20) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) powerhouse Auburn (9/9). The Bulldogs got their first win of the season in fine style at home with an 8-0 victory over South Carolina State (9/19) with junior forward Makayla Rushing (Red Oak, Texas) fueling the offense with three goals and a pair of assists.
 
That performance led to her being named SWAC Offensive Player of the Week, alongside junior defender Taylor Watson (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) earning the Defender of the Week honor.
 
The Bulldogs would then enter SWAC play and face off against Mississippi Valley State (9/24) and deliver a 4-0 victory before posting a shutout at Alcorn (9/26) with a 1-0 win. They would then build a winning streak that started at Texas Southern (10/3) with a 2-0 blanking followed by a 3-1 victory at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10/15). AAMU would then register a 3-0 win against Southern followed by consecutive 1-0 victories against Jackson State (10/24), Grambling (10/27) and Alabama State (10/29).
 
Senior goalkeeper Jodi Medina (Coral Springs, Fla.) was named Goalkeeper of the Week and senior midfielder Tateyana Pitter (Kingston, Jamaica) earned Defender of the Week on October 27 for their performances after the Southern and JSU games respectively.
 
The Bulldogs were then named SWAC Co-Champions after a stellar 8-1-0 conference record that was their sixth regular season title and first since 2012. Medina and Rushing were both named to the All-SWAC First-Team and junior midfielder Sherice Clarke (St. Catherine, Jamaica)  and Watson earned a spot on the Second-Team.
 
They would then enter the SWAC Tournament and face off against Southern (11/4) in the quarterfinals, delivering a 1-0 victory in overtime to gain their ninth shutout and push their winning streak to seven.
 
 That tied for the second longest in team history and advanced AAMU to the SWAC semifinals for the first time since November 7, 2008. They would then battle against Grambling (11/5) and fall with a 2-0 decision to end their historic season.
 
Individually, the players stacked up numerous awards as Medina was named Preseason and Postseaon Goalkeeper of the Year and was the first Bulldog to ever do so. She dominated the SWAC with nine blankings, including five consecutive clean sheets from October 22 – November 4. For the season she made a total 142 saves and only allowed 34 goals while playing 1,679 minutes.
 
Rushing was named to the All-SWAC First Team after dominating for the Bulldogs with 10 goals and 23 points, which ranked her second in the league. She started all 19 games and logged 1,692 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs offensive leader played all 103 minutes in the quarterfinal game against the Jaguars to help with the 1-0 victory before playing all 90 minutes in the semifinal game against Grambling (10/5). Her performance in both led to her being named to the SWAC All-Tournament team.
 
Pitter played in 17 games, starting 14, while logging 1,214 minutes. She was a dominant defensive midfielder that helped her team produced one of the best seasons in program history with 11 games of one goal or less.
 
She also played all 103 minutes in the SWAC Tournament Quarterfinals and returned the following day and played 83 minutes against GSU. Her performance landed her on the SWAC All-Tournament Team as well.
 
Alabama A&M women's soccer head coach Emanuel Stephens was named SWAC Coach of the Year as he led his team to an 10-8-2 overall record and an 8-1-0 league mark.
 
The soccer program was well represented on the academic side as senior Arielle Fortune (Chattanooga, Tenn.) made history, becoming the first women's soccer player named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team on November 11. She was the only individual to be named from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU)
 
The team would end their historic season by winning the Waylon Sims Team Academic Achievement Award and The Bulldog Cup at the B.E.S.T. Awards showcasing that the 2021 Alabama A&M women's soccer team was truly champions on the field and in the classroom and set a high bar for all others to follow.
 
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2022-23 preseason, the SID Office released one story at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 3 and this now concludes the countdown.

Countdown to the Top-10 Alabama A&M Athletics Stories from 2021-22
No. 1 – Women's Soccer Delivers Impressive Accolades and Attacks Record Books (August 5)
No. 2 – Bulldogs Make History With Record Academic Achievements (July 29)
No. 3 – Football Returns To Louis Crews Amid Thrilling Campaign (July 22)
No. 4 – Bulldogs Bring Home Bevy of Award (July 15)
No. 5 – McLaren Delivers Titles as Men's Track & Field Returns to SWAC Championships (July 8)
No. 6 – Men's Basketball Delivers Impressive Historical Season (July 1)
No. 7 – Women's Basketball and Lewis Attack the Record Books (June 24)
No. 8 – Bowling and Men's Golf Net Honors Not Seen In Years (June 17)
No. 9 – Baseball Delivers Strong Efforts In 2022 Campaign (June 10)
No. 10 – Men's Tennis Delivers Impressive Accolades (June 3)
Honorable Mention (May 27)

PHOTO GALLERY