BOX SCORE (PDF)
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - On October 6, 2019, Jackson State's head soccer coach Dr. Ted Flogaites had a smile on his face after a Sunday afternoon matchup with conference opponent Alabama A&M University that he had not had throughout the 2019 season at that point.
The reason - his beloved Lady Tigers claimed their first win on the season and did so in thrilling fashion as they took down a team that had more than five times the amount of wins entering the matchup today.
The Lady Tigers have battled through a season that has not gone quite their way but on Sunday afternoon, everything that they had trained for and persevered through seemed to come to fruition in a 3-1 beating of Alabama A&M.
Coach Flogaites, who enters his first season at Jackson State and has been laying a foundation each and every day despite some failures this season, is not afraid to be frank with those outside the team who have doubted his squad to date.
"Let's talk truthfully: If you looked only at our record you made a bad mistake. We've actually been very good in the past six matches and our improvement has been steady. We came to play today and I think we just wanted it more. I think we were tired of being on the losing end of results."
The Lady Tigers are young and learning with more experience. On Sunday, it was the play of two freshman that gave the Tigers a lift and spark that was needed for a team heading in the right direction.
Megan Howell struck first for JSU with a 10th minute goal to give the Lady Tigers a quick 1-0 lead.
It was the second goal in back to back games that was put into the netting in under ten minutes, as Jalah Carter notched one on Friday in the 6th minute of play versus Alabama State.
The Tigers are shooting and getting to the goal with more confidence recently. That sense of confidence and experience also helped fellow freshman Sage Magruder give the Tigers the go ahead goal, 2-1, in the 58th minute of the game - just three minutes after Alabama A&M tied things up at 1-1.
The final nail in the coffin came in the 80th minute of play when preseason all-swac first team member Jalah Carter scored her team high second goal of the season to give JSU a 3-1 advantage.
The Tigers had distanced themselves just far enough for AAMU to not have a chance to get back in to the game, as the Tigers ultimately went on to claim the victory 3-1. It was the first win of the season for a team that has competed down to the final second in each and every game.
"Howell and Sage score, two freshmen, and Jalah sealed the match with the brilliant finish. Thea (Ebbe Brich) made a massive save late in the match. All credit to the players who were fully committed to the match and its foolish to overlook us as we are a far stronger team playing and mentality wise than earlier this season." Added the overjoyed head coach for the Tigers.
"The players were magnificent today and I'm delighted for them that they can celebrate and feel good about the performance and the win. If we want to feel this good again, we have to work equally as hard. Super proud of the team today. Happy we represented JSU in the right way today."
Jackson State finished with a total of seven shots in the match with five shots on goal including the goals by Howell, Magruder, and Carter.
Goalkeeper Thea Ebbe Brich was solid in the net, saving three shot attempts out of 16 shots by AAMU and only allowing the one goal that came in the 55th minute of play.
