ITTA BENA, Miss. – Little Rock notched its sixth clean sheet of the season and had its best offensive outburst of 2021, defeating Mississippi Valley State 5-0 Tuesday afternoon in Itta Bena.
"I thought we started off slow and sluggish, and it took us a little while to get going," said head coach
Mark Foster. "Once we scored that first goal, things started to click into gear. In the second half I thought we played much better and I thought our play both with and with out the ball was much better. We were able to create some chances and score some goals, so I was excited to see the progression."
Little Rock held a 1-0 lead at the intermission, thanks to a goal from
Abril Lucio in the 15th minute, assisted by
Jana Heinen. The Trojans held a 9-1 shot advantage through the opening 45 minutes with
Hilma Svalander registering a save in net.
The Trojan offense came alive in the second half, outshooting the Devilettes 18-2 and registering four goals. Heinen started off the offensive surge in the 51st minute off an assist from Lucio, repaying the favor from the first half goal.
Little Rock then scored twice in a three minute span, beginning with a goal from
Fanney Einarsdottir in the 62nd minute off an assist from
Julia Edholm. Edholm would then notch a goal of her own in the 65th minute, driving home a feed from
Bergros Asgeirsdottir. The final goal of the afternoon was scored by
Addison Yinger in the 75th minute, her first career goal, with
Camryn Jacobs earning her first career assist.
For the game, Little Rock outshot Mississippi Valley State 27-3, led by
Astros Luckas' seven shots on the afternoon. Heinen added five with Yinger firing three shots, all in the second half. Lucio, Einarsdottir, Edholm,
Alicia Holmberg and
Kenedie St. Mary each finished with four shots against the Devilette defense.
Defensively, Svalander finished with a pair of saves while playing all 90 minutes, giving Little Rock its Sun Belt-best sixth shutout of the season.
"It was good to be able to get everyone some playing time today, as there were some girls that had earned some minutes," Foster said. "They had been patient and it was good to get them some quality minutes. It was nice to see Addison (Yinger) get her first career goal and to see Hilma (Svalander) play all 90 minutes and finish with a clean sheet. I was proud of the effort of the team today."
Little Rock now returns to the Coleman Sports Complex, getting back into conference play Sunday hosting Georgia Southern. Opening draw against the Eagles is set for 1 p.m.
#LittleRocksTeam
