Northwest Mississippi Community College rolled into town with two squads’ worth of players and overpowered the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the first half of Monday’s women’s soccer exhibition.
UAPB lost to NMCC 5-2 at the Pumphrey Soccer Complex.
NMCC brought 27 players. During the first-half water break, the Rangers substituted every player but the goalkeeper with a 2-0 lead.
UAPB dressed 11 players, forcing every player to play the entire match. Second-half injuries forced the Lady Lions to finish the game with nine players.
New head coach Jayme Selph said one player sat out and two more are expected to arrive soon, but UAPB will play with a small roster this season. She said she didn’t have many opportunities to recruit because of how late she officially got the job, but she played at a small school and knows what it is like to have a small roster.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Obviously, their fitness could improve, but there’s only so much improving to fitness I can do with 11 people without injuring them,” Selph said. “So, I’ve just tried to stress, hey, do what you can do. Take care of yourself.”
NMCC led 5-0 at halftime, but the Lady Lions played a much better second half, even when shorthanded. They shut out the Rangers and even scored with 10 players on the pitch.
UAPB junior forward Ashley McGuire got behind the defense on a counterattack and shot the ball to the goalkeeper’s left to score the Lady Lions’ first goal with 36:12 remaining. McGuire scored again with 17:18 remaining when she beat the goalkeeper to the ball, dribbled around her, and fired an accurate shot from distance to make it 5-2.
Selph said she expects to see plenty of goals from McGuire this season.
“She’s a workhorse,” Selph said. “Super fast, super quick. Just knows where the ball is going to go and just has a sense of following the bounce with it.”
UAPB goalkeeper Makaila Riedel had a busy day, facing 16 shots on goal from NMCC. She made three saves in the first half but played her best in the second half. She saved three shots in the first five minutes before McGuire’s first goal for UAPB.
Riedel saved another shot a minute later, but NMCC soon after won a penalty after a UAPB foul in the box. NMCC midfielder Emma Jensen’s shot was low and to Riedel’s left, and Riedel made the diving save to deny Jensen what would have been her second goal.
Selph, a former goalkeeper, said she wasn’t surprised by Riedel’s performance.
“(Riedel) is someone that comes out every day with a smile on her face and just gives it her all,” Selph said. “Leads everyone else by example, so it really doesn’t surprise me. I’ve seen her have games like this in the past. She just knows, as a goalkeeper, you’ve gotta put yourself on the line and give it all you’ve got and commit, and she did that, so she did all I could ask for.”
This was UAPB’s first action under Selph, who took over as head coach in the offseason after Erik Solberg left for the head job at Gardner-Webb. UAPB will open the regular season Thursday at Louisiana-Monroe. The home opener is scheduled for Aug. 29 against Selph’s alma mater, Central Baptist College.