LITTLE ROCK- On Senior Day,
Jaclyn Purvine continued her impressive goal-scoring streak as the Trojans picked up their third consecutive victory against Ohio Valley Conference opponent Austin Peay on Friday night. An own goal as well as freshman
Astros Luckas's first goal in a Little Rock uniform helped the Trojans grab 3-1 win at home.
"I thought we struggled at the start," said Head Coach
Mark Foster. "I think the emotions of senior day probably got the better of us. That is natural on senior day. But once we got into a rhythm and matched their work rate, our quality showed."
The Trojans were beneficiaries of a fortunate bounce for their first goal of the match in the sixth minute when
Sairra Tucker delivered a dangerous cross into the box. The ball took a deflection off an Austin Peay defender and found its way into the back of the net to give Little Rock a 1-0 advantage.
The lead was doubled in the 27
th minute when Purvine continued her magnificent goal-scoring form by beating the defenders to a loose ball in the box and knocking it home to make the score 2-0. This was her fourth goal in the last three games.
Purvine was not done on the offensive end, however, as she headed a ball to the feet of Luckas who wasted no time to take a useful touch that would set her up for the shot and the goal.
The Governors were frantically trying to get back in the game in the dying minutes, and managed to score on a Katie Kenward header that found its way over the head of
Sara Johannsdottir and into the back of the net. The effort would prove to be too little too late for Austin Peay as the Trojans would hang on for a 3-1 result.
Little Rock proved to be extremely effective in the attacking third of the pitch against an Austin Peay side that had not conceded a goal before Friday night.
All 10 seniors made a start for the Trojans as they were all honored prior to kickoff for their dedication and commitment to the Little Rock soccer program.
"I didn't recruit this senior class, but if I did, I couldn't have picked a better class myself," said Foster. "I'm so blessed and thankful for the previous coaching staff for leaving such a foundation in place with these great seniors. I'm just thankful for the seniors for being open to me, the new staff and new ideas and just embracing it. I just told the seniors that this thing can go a long way if they want it to. And I think they're up for it."
Little Rock will return to action when they travel to Itta Bena, Miss. to take on Mississippi Valley State on Sunday, Sept. 2 for another nonconference matchup.
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