JONESBORO, Ark. (10/18/12) – The Arkansas State soccer team
suffered just its second defeat at home this season in a 3-1 loss to Florida
International on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the loss, ASU (9-7-3, 3-4-1 Sun Belt) clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament when Troy defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 1-0. It will be the eighth in
school history that ASU has participated in the postseason tournament.
“It was just a bad day at the office,” ASU soccer coach Tafadzwa
Ziyenge said. “In a situation like this you just have to look forward to the
next game. I am confident we will come out next time and play better than we
did. We are still a talented team, we still believe in ourselves and everyone
has a bad day. This was just one of our bad days.”
The Red Wolves fell behind 1-0 in the match thanks to an early
goal from the Panthers' Nicole Diperna in the 10th minute. Diperna
scored on a low shot from the right side of the box to give FIU (9-7-1, 3-4-1) the early
advantage in the match.
The Panthers struck again in the 35 minute on a goal from Morgan
Morris that snuck by ASU goalkeeper Aja Aguirre to push the lead to 2-0.
The Red Wolves got a goal back in the 37th minute when
Loren Mitchell scored her seventh goal of the season. The freshman scored on a
shot that hit the back of the net in the top right corner over the outstretched
reach of the FIU goalkeeper.
However, FIU pushed the lead to 3-1 just three minutes later when Johanna
Volz scored on a shot from the right side of the net.
Ten different A-State players registered shots in the match, led
by Mitchell's five. Jenna Duerst and Madison Joyce each had two shots, while
Ashley Jackson, Jena' Kelley, Christine Giles, Ashley McMurtry, Christina Fink,
Alex Furr and Jordan Adams each took one shot.
Aguirre started in goal for ASU for the 12th time this
season and made one save, before she was replaced by Audrey Baldwin in the
second half.
ASU will wrap-up its 2012 home soccer season Saturday,
Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. Against Florida Atlantic. The A-State soccer team will honor
its three seniors in a ceremony following the match.
