No 1 Grambling State 1, No. 4 Alabama State 0
Box Score
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Jasmine Smith’s mark at the 84
th minute pushed Grambling State (14-7) to a 1-0 win over defending champion Alabama State (7-11) in the semifinals of the 2018 Southwestern Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament.
This is the second-straight finals appearance for Grambling, who extended its shutout streak to 840 consecutive minutes.
Grambling controlled possession throughout much of the first half to keep Alabama State on its heels, but wasn’t able to generate many quality opportunities during a stanza defined by defensive struggle.
The Lady Tigers managed a clean look at the 33
rd minute after Kailey Pena settled a feed, but the freshman striker sent an open try over the net. Pena dished to Kaylee Holt for a shot at the 36
th minute, but Gianna Guyot was there to stop the dribbler.
While Grambling wasn’t able to cash-in on its chances, the Lady Hornets struggled to put together a consistent offensive charge, going without an attempt for the first 45.
The story was more of the same through the initial part of the second half. Alabama State narrowly missed an opportunity at the 67
th minute as Teaggan Ilela nearly found Birgit Rijnders on a long cross, but the pass was just outside of the strike zone for the Lady Hornets’ top scorer.
Minutes later, Grambling mounted a charge. Jasmine Smith took a shot from the left that was batted away by Guyot, followed by a mad scramble where traffic at the net was too much for the Lady Tigers to get a good ball through.
Following that, the Lady Tigers missed on a golden chance when Smith charged toward the net. Guyot was there to meet her, and the ensuing scrum left the net open for a try, but Grambling was unable to get a striker in place to take advantage as the Lady Hornets backline was there to defend. Grambling continued to threaten, and Smith eventually beat Guyot from the left to push the Lady Tigers to their second-straight finals appearance.
Alabama State cut on the urgency from there, creating one of its best chances of the match. However, the ensuing Lady Hornets try sailed wide right, and the team was unable to mount another opportunity from that point.
Grambling outshot ASU 14-4, limiting the Lady Hornets to just one chance on goal.