Tigers Close Out Regular Season With 1-0 Road Win Over Prairie View A&M

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Texas Southern Soccer team concluded their regular-season with a 1-0 win over SWAC rival Prairie View A&M Friday. The win also marked TSU’s first win over PVAMU since 2017.

The match was a collective effort both defensively and offensively. Besides the game-winning goal by Ashley Arnes in the 64th minute, the Tigers posted only three shots on goal but the most of it when they had opportunities.

Alexis Espino, a former PVAMU goalie, made four saves in the first half as both teams finished scoreless.

TSU would survive a pair of Prairie View A&M shot attempts early in the second half and worked the ball downfield as its first shot attempt was deflected which set up a corner kick from Laura Chavez, Chavez perfectly placed the ball in the teeth of the PVAMU defense and Arnes successfully converted the header to lead 1-0.

From there, the TSU defense took center stage as the intensity from the sidelines and the crowd picked up immensely. Espino made several big saves while the backline held off several late PVAMU charges within arm’s length of the goal in the final minutes. In the final 10 seconds, PVAMU was setting up to make a last-ditch attempt at the goal but Kalia Smith would successfully knock the ball out of harm’s way to secure the win.

TSU’s win ended an undefeated conference streak for the Panthers and give them its first win over PVAMU since the 2017 SWAC Tournament.

The Tigers finished the regular season with a 4-2-3 mark and are back in action Thursday for the 2021 SWAC Soccer Championship at Prairie View A&M. The official bracket will be announced early next week.

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