Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The UALR women's soccer team (2-3) got its second straight victory Friday night, defeating McNeese State (1-4) by a score of 2-1 at Burns Park. Jacquelyn Paz and Christina Veasley scored goals for the Trojans, while Jane Picarelli made four saves in goal.
"It was a good win for us. McNeese State is a good opponent," said head coach Freddy Delgado. "We kept with it, we were persistent, but they played really well defensively. They deserve a lot of credit for that."
For the second straight game, UALR came out very aggressive on offense. It showed in the box score at the end of the night, as the Trojans took 12 shots to the Cowgirls' five in the first half alone. UALR ended the night with a 19-12 shot advantage, including 10-5 in shots on goal.
"We had a lot of attackers tonight, which is something we have been working on," said Delgado. "Our outside midfielders did a good job of attacking, our forwards did a good job of running at the defense and our outside backs really got into the attack. Overall, it was a good performance by the entire team."
Paz scored the first Trojan goal in the 52nd minute, dribbling through traffic and firing a shot straightaway from 35 yards out that drilled the back of the net. The goal was Paz's first of the season.
The second goal for UALR came just minutes later, as Veasley headed in a cross from Taylor Gabbert in the 59th minute to put the Trojans up 2-0. The header gives Veasley two goals on the season.
The Cowgirls would pick up a goal late in the game, as Johna Germany would put one past Picarelli with less than a minute to go in the contest.
However, Picarelli continued her stellar play between the pipes, making several nice saves on the night. At one point in the first half with the game still tied at zero, Picarelli went airborne and punched a Cowgirl shot over the crossbar that could have stolen some of UALR's offensive momentum, as well as given McNeese State an early lead.
The Trojans will try to pick up their third win in less than a week Sunday when they take on the Memphis Tigers at Burns Park. Kick off is slated for 1 p.m.
