Troy Claims First Victory of 2022 Over McNeese State

Thursday, August 25

Mobile, Ala.

4 p.m.

Troy University

1-2-0, 0-0-0

McNeese State

1-2-0, 0-0-0

Troy

McNeese

Troy Claims First Victory of 2022 Over McNeese State

8/25/2022 7:33:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – Troy women's soccer claimed its first victory of 2022 with a 3-1 performance against McNeese State on Thursday afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The Trojans (1-2) end their three-game drought that extended from last season as head coach Robert Lane achieves his first official victory at Troy.

Jayla Gage got the Trojans started with the team's first goal of the season and her first goal as a Trojan off the assist of Ella Owen. Erin Bloomfield and Jordan Stack joined her for Troy's first three-goal performance since Alabama A&M last season.

Salma Elhaimer had the Cowgirls' (1-2) lone goal in the loss with an unassisted score. McNeese State released seven total shots and committed eight fouls in the loss.

Going Up Early
Troy entered the match awaiting its first goal of the season after being outscored 3-0 in their last two matches. Gage was quick to end the drought after receiving the assist from Owen to net Troy's first goal of the season at the 11-minute mark.

Bloomfield didn't let off the gas pedal for Troy after escaping the defense, 34:11 into the first. McNeese's goalkeeper, Jackie Kelly, forced the penalty kick after grabbing Bloomfield's jersey inside the penalty box, setting up the game's second goal.

The Cowgirls quickly responded as Elhaimer went down the field to put McNeese State back in the game, 2-1, just 45 seconds later at 34:56.

The following 46 minutes stayed quiet as both sides took shots at each other. Then, at 81:24, Gabrielle Chartier set up for the corner kick on the near side. The sophomore let out the kick, which connected off the head of Stack for the third goal of the game, clinching the 3-1 victory for Troy.

First Win for Coach
"It was a good response. I was really impressed with the girls after our disappointing result at A&M on Monday. It was nice to see some fight from them. After not hitting anything all fall, it was awesome to see them put three in the back of the net. It was truly exciting. We tinkered with the lineup a little bit and saw everything that we've been working on pan out for a solid victory. We're going to continue to get better and prepare ourselves for the Sun Belt."

Winning Numbers
• Today's win marks Lane's first win as head coach of the Trojans and the 28^th in his career.
• Defensively, Troy limited McNeese to an opponent low seven shots on goal – previous shots allowed were 17 against Texas Tech and 16 at Alabama A&M.
• Troy's three-goal performance was the team's first since Alabama A&M on Aug. 22, 2021, where Bloomfield scored a hat trick in the 3-0 victory – first time three different players scored a goal for Troy since Kiersten Edlund, MaddieBrune and Nathali Sailva all scored in a 4-1 win over Georgia Southern on Oct. 6, 2019.

Round Two of the South Alabama Tournament
The team's stay in Mobile isn't over as they return for their second game of the weekend on Sunday against North Alabama at noon.