JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State kept its postseason hopes alive with 4-1 win over Conference USA rival Kennesaw State on Saturday night at the Jax State Soccer Complex.
With the win, the Gamecocks surpass the Owls in conference points with 10 with one match left in the regular season for both clubs. Through the league action on Saturday, Jax State would be in the six-team CUSA Soccer Championship field, hosted by FIU on November 6-10. The Gamecocks wrap up the season with a Halloween match in Miami, Florida against the Panthers, who are the front runners in the conference standings. KSU will wrap up the regular season on Friday at Liberty.
Jax State got off to a quick start with three goals in the first 45 minutes and added an insurance goal late in the second half to secure a third CUSA win and the eighth of the season. Junior
Nancy Almanza gave the Gamecocks the early lead with her seventh goal of the season in the 16
th minute. Knowing that KSU knocked off FIU in its last outing, Jax State kept the pressure on with a back-to-back goals within a two-minute span in 27th and 28th minute. Junior
Nanaka Inaba drilled her second goal of the season in the 27th minute before junior
Naroa Domenech tacked on the third goal of the half moments after.
Domenech finished with an impressive stat line with two assists to go along with her team-high eighth goal of the season. Freshman
Alexis Castle dished out a pair of assists on two of the three first 45-minute goals, while Almanza tacked on an assist.
"It was a massive win for us and it keeps our postseason hopes alive. It was a whole team effort as we used a lot of bodies tonight and it was a great way to honor our seniors by going out with a win," said assistant coach Nicole Burke. "We put in a lot of hard work this week and we asked a lot of them this week and they delivered."
After the Owls scored in the 70th minute, the Gamecocks had to fend off a final effort by KSU in the final moments of the contest. Senior
Melissa Kuya Strobel, one of five seniors honored prior to the match, capped off the scoring with her fourth goal of the season in the 89th minute. With three points secured, Burke was able to get all five seniors playing time. Kuya Strobel and
Laleh Lonteen were in the starting line up, while
Baylee Eads was on the pitch for 15 minutes off the bench. Goalkeeper
Bailey Dean and
Salome Kerguillec came on to the pitch in the final minute of action.
Jax State held a 17-7 edge in total shots and had five corner kick opportunities.
The Gamecocks return to South Florida for the second consecutive year as it visited the Sunshine State last season against FIU. The regular season finale is set for 6 p.m. CT on Thursday. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
