The Lady Lions soccer team opened the season this past weekend with two wins at home over Alcorn and Alabama State, respectively. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Lady Lions have won their first game of the season and second time that they’ve opened with two wins in a row.

The Lady Lion’s swept Alcorn State 6-0 on Friday, Aug. 19 and defeated Alabama State 4-0 on Sunday, Aug. 21. Defense played a key role for the Lady Lions, who dominated most of the action in both games, keeping their opponents on edge and forcing them to heavily defend their own goal. Junior Maiya Cooper spoke highly of her team’s defense.

“Our defense is actually doing really well,” said Cooper. “They’re gelling together, they’re able to play off each other and it’s actually saving us a lot. I’m really glad about our defenders this year.”

 Head coach Blake Hornbuckle agrees that the Lady Lions have been playing well defensively, but comments on the team’s offensive tenacity.

“I think we did a good job controlling the back line and not letting them get in for an opportunity on our goal,” said Hornbuckle. “I think we just need to continue to work on passing sequences and work on runs to get into the attack to be more consistent.”

The team held a massive shot advantage over both of their opponents. The Lady Lions boasted a 23-2 shot advantage over Alcorn State and an 18-1 advantage over Alabama. In Friday’s game, juniors Megan Miller and Karly Dagys both scored one goal while Sophomore Jaci Teresinski and junior Sam McNally each claimed two. On Sunday, juniors Cooper and Kerry McWhirter netted one goal each while junior Megan Miller scored two.

The Lady Lions were strong going into the half in both games, up 5-0 against Alcorn and 3-0 against Alabama; however, they were only able to score once in the second half of both games. Defense again played a pivotal role in the second half as the Lady Lions were mostly focused on keeping their considerable lead safe. Hornbuckle and Cooper both commented on the difficulty of getting back into the swing of things at this early point in the season.

“We maybe came out just a little flat today,” said Hornbuckle. “Sometimes that can happen in your second game in three days and I feel like we had to grind it out today. Some days are like that. Not every day can be your absolute best and I don’t believe we were at our best today. But I think we worked hard to get our result.”

“Team effort was ok today,” said Cooper. “It kind of started of fast and it was kind of up and down for us so we have to go back and try to work things out. Second game of the season so we’re just getting all the kinks out and the game went pretty well as the game went on, but we have to pick it up in order to be in conference and try to win this year.”

On Friday, Aug. 26, the Lady Lions will hit the road to face off against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This will be the first of four consecutive away games. The Lady Lions will return home for a match against Texas Southern on Friday, Sept. 16.