Oct. 4, 2006

Jackson, MS -- The Southern University Lady Jaguar soccer team split this past weekend in Jackson, Mississippi as they defeated the Alabama State University Lady Hornets 2-1 on Saturday, September 30th. The next day they played the Lady Bulldogs of Alabama A&M University and lost 2-0.

"We played well in both games," said head coach John Knighten. "Alabama State had only 12 players so we wanted to keep the ball moving."

Southern's (3-8) sophomore Charmaine Jones scored her first goal of the season on a pass from freshman Amanda Soto-Ortiz. Preseason All-SWAC, Kendall Smith, scored her third goal of the season on a penalty kick in the fifth minute of the game.

"Kendall has been a great asset to us," said Knighten. "Charmaine has had opportunities to score before but she over thinks it and becomes nervous. I pulled her to the side and told her to calm down and take the shot without thinking about it."

On Sunday, October 1st, it was time for the Blue and Gold to face the Lady Bulldogs. Soccer is only in its fourth year of competition in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Alabama A&M owns two of the championships.

"Most of the teams in the SWAC measure their success by the way they play against Alabama A&M," Knighten said. "We are better than we were last season and every game we are improving so we knew we could play with them.

Southern came out and challenged every thing the Lady Bulldogs threw at them. Goalie Ashley Stevenson faced 22 shots in the game and only allowed two goals. The first one came in the 41st minute and the second one in the 88th. Stevenson finished with seven saves. Unfortunately the Lady Jaguars could find their offense niche as they attempted only four shots with one being a shot on goal.

"I told them we can play with anybody in the SWAC," said Knighten. "I was really proud of the young ladies by the way they played. They showed heart and never gave up.

The Lady Jaguars will travel to Houston, Texas for their first conference contests. They will challenge Texas Southern University on Friday October 8th at 12:00 pm. Then on Sunday, October 8th at 1:00 pm they will face Prairie View A&M University.