Lady Lions’ Soccer Drop Two in Conference Play

It was a tough conference opening weekend for Lady Lions soccer, as they dropped two matches at Pumphrey Stadium. UAPB fell to Southern University in a close one on Friday 2-1 and lost to Jackson State University on Sunday, 4-1.

The Lady Lions battled defensively but could not get enough looks at the net to outscore the Lady Jaguars.

During the first half of the game, both teams got early looks offensively and remained intense in slippery weather conditions.

The Lady Jags scored the first goal at the 24:46 mark to lead UAPB 1-0.  Freshman Halley Wheeler made her debut with a goal after a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1 in the 36th-minute mark.

During the second half of play, UAPB defense played well to keep the score tied up, before the Lady Jaguars scored the winning goal at the 85:22 minute mark to take a 2-1.

The Lady Lions were led by Wheeler who had three shots at the goal and scored the only goal of the game.

“I think we proved we belonged on the field with them for 90 minutes but at the same time we did not do a good enough job to win the game,” said Head Coach Erik Solberg. “I am disappointed but we are preparing to continue to improve moving forward,” said coach Solberg.

On Sunday, the Jackson St. got on the board first, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Eager to close the gap, freshman Hailey Langley cut the Lady Lions deficit to one (2-1)  with an assist by Jackie Stokes at the 33rd-minute mark before intermission.

Jackson St. added to their lead scoring in the 53rd-minute mark to take a 3-1, before UAPB responded when freshman Jackie Stokes kicked a low left goal after an assist by freshman Natalie Freeman to cut the lead to one (3-2).

The Lady Tigers added to their lead late in the game to come away with the road win.

The Lady Lions were led by Stokes, who had four shots at the goal and one goal.

“I thought we did really well despite some of the challenges we faced, and we responded positively, but we are going to work on playing our game consistently throughout our 90 minutes, ” said Head Coach Erik Solberg.

The Lady Lions will be back in play on Friday, October 8th, to take on Prairie View A&M in Prairie View, Texas, at 7 pm.