JONESBORO, Ark. (9/23/16) – Jemma Purfield goal with under three minutes to go was the difference in South Alabama's victory over the Arkansas State women's soccer team Friday afternoon at the A-State Soccer Park.
The Red Wolves (2-4-3, 0-2-1 Sun Belt) stymied the Jaguars offensive attack throughout the afternoon and held their opponents to just four shots on goal, but an unfortunate break on a yellow card in the 87th minute gave South Alabama (7-2-1, 2-0) its best scoring opportunity with a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box.
A-State packed its wall in tight and forced Purfield to bend her kick around its defense, but the Jaguar attacker was able to put enough spin on the ball to get around the wall and sneak by an outstretched Kelsey Ponder in the net for the game's only goal.
“This one today went along with what our pattern has been all season long,” A-State head coach Brian Dooley said. “We were very competitive and strong and do the necessary things and today we were playing against a team that hasn't lost in the league in three years and just beat the No. 1 team in the country and everything says that it should be a blowout and our girls just refused to accept and believe that.”
South Alabama held a 15-4 edge in shots, but produced only four real scoring chances thanks to the play of the Red Wolves' defensive and midfield units. Ponder turned another strong performance in net and stopped nearly everything that made it through defense and finished with three saves.
Arkansas State a had several opportunities to score in the early part of the match when Kat Padgett and Abby Harris each had shots blocked from close range. Arianna Deli Carpini also had a solid opportunity but her shot sailed wide of the net.
Harris also had a chance late in the second half and a long ball that was put in by Tayler Carter, but Harris could not run the ball down before the Jaguars goalkeeper came out to retrieve it.
“I thought our chances were better in the first half than in the second half,” Dooley said. “I thought from the 50th minute on they started to pinch us a little bit and made us have to play a tough game and I thought responded really well. That next piece for us is just to be able to breakout more effectively and get more numbers forward.”
The Red Wolves will host Louisiana-Monroe Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Free Live streaming of the match will be provided on AStateRedWolves.com, with live stats at AStateStats.com.
For the latest on information on the A-State women's soccer team, log onto AStateRedWolves.com or follow the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateSoccer and follow them on Twitter @AStateSoccer.
