By: Habtom Keleta-Asst. AD for Media Relations
Box Score PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas | The Grambling State women's soccer team is headed back to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Final after it defeated conference rival Southern 2-0 in the SWAC semifinal match at the PVAMU Soccer Complex on the campus of Prairie View A&M. The win marks the second straight 2-0 victory for GSU in the conference tournament as veteran goalkeeper
Britt Verhees and the gritty Tigers defense have not allowed a single goal in back-to-back shutout victories. GSU has now won six straight contests and have all the momentum in the world heading into Sunday's final.
"I'm immensely proud of the teams' continued progress," said first year head coach
Craig Roberts. "Our confidence and belief in each other has got stronger each game and I feel we have great momentum going into the final. Again, we have several different players scoring goals, so our attack has become more versatile. Our success is not based on the result, but instead, our progress and our development."
After another scoreless first half, GSU striker
Macy Ramsey broke the scoring drought with a fantastic go-ahead goal in the 55th minute of action.
In the 58th minute, first-team All-SWAC selection
Kailey Pena sealed the deal for GSU as she finally beat Lady Jaguar keeper Chioma Eriken and found the back of the net from a brilliant pass from
Kaydeen Jack. The goal was Pena's 15th of the season as she was recently named
SWAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year. The junior striker from New Mexico finished with six total shots and four shots on goal, both match-highs. She is currently ranked second in the nation in goals per game (1.44) and second in the NCAA in total goals (15).
GSU goalkeeper Verhees produced six saves and earned a second-straight clean sheet as Grambling's back line was once again solid throughout the contest.
Southern goalkeeper Eriken finished with a game-high seven saves and allowed two goals in the semifinal loss.
Up Next
Grambling State advances to its third SWAC Women's Soccer Final in four years and will face Alabama State on Sunday, April 11 at 11 a.m. at the PVAMU Soccer Complex in a battle between the conference's top two seeds. On March 7, Grambling took an early 1-0 lead over Alabama State before the Lady Hornets found an equalizer later in the match with a goal from a penalty kick
as they tied 1-1 in Alabama.
Sunday, April 11 (Final)
Game 7: #1 Alabama State vs. #2 Grambling State – 11:00 am (
Live Stats I Box Score I Recap I
ASU Roster I
GSU Roster)
The Spring 2021 Southwestern Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament will take place April 8-9, and 11 at the PVAMU Soccer Complex, the event will operate with limited spectator capacity restrictions.
All tournament games scheduled for Friday (April 9) and Sunday (April 11) will be broadcast live on the SWAC Digital Network.
All times listed Central Standard Time (CST)
For more information on the 2021 SWAC Spring Women's Soccer Tournament, click
here.
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