The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (4-1) defeated the Grambling State Tigers (1-4) with a final score of 4-3 at Grambling State University on Friday, Aug. 31.
With the win, the Golden Eagles extended their winning streak from two games to three.
Southern Miss came out firing early with senior Ashton Stennis scoring a goal to make it 1-0 in the 10th minute. Sophomore JoAnnie Ramos had the assist on the goal.
Grambling State then responded by tying the game up 1-1 at the 23:47 mark.
On the same end, Grambling State’s Sarah Dunbar scored on an assist by Jordan King in the 29th minute, making it 2-1. That score was Grambling State’s first and only lead of the ball game.
Before the half ended, Ramos scored on a free kick from 25 yards away. That score allowed the teams to enter halftime with the game tied 2-2.
After halftime, the Golden Eagles came out in full force, with sophomore Miah Zuazua putting Southern Miss back on top 3-2 after drilling a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. Zuazua has been a consistent scorer for the team this season and it showed again. Zuazua has scored at least one goal in each of team’s wins so far and leads C-USA with a total of five goals this season.
Senior Hannah Abrams found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining in the game and scored with the assist from sophomore Keely Hoppmeyer to put the Golden Eagles up 4-2.
With 1:17 remaining in the game, Grambling scored again making it 4-3. Still, Southern Miss held on for the win.
On Sunday night, Southern Miss went head-to-head with Southeastern Louisiana University for the second game of a five-game road trip.
Sophomore Miah Zuazua wasn’t shy about getting her team on the board, as she gave the Golden Eagles their first and only points of the night with a goal in the 16th minute of the contest. Zuazua’s goal is of the sixth of the season for C-USA’s leading scorer.
During the second half, Southern Miss redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sarah Preston showed off her vertical skills when she saved the tying goal for Southeastern with 16:36 remaining in the game.
Southeastern had seven total shots, compared to Southern Miss’ six, but Southern Miss had five shots on goal to Southeastern’s four.
The final score was 1-0 in favor of Southern Miss as they increased their winning streak from three to four.
Southern Miss is set to face Stephen F. Austin in Nagodoches, Texas on Sep. 7th at 7:00 p.m.
