The Red Wolves celebrate a Emma Riales goal.

PHOTO COURTESY OF A-STATE ATHLETICS

Arkansas State Soccer celebrated their last home game with a win as the Old Dominion Monarchs (9-5-3) fell 1-0.

This was the last home game of the season and also Senior Day for the Red Wolves. The soccer team honored a total of nine senior players before the game and, as is tradition, all of these seniors saw playing time on the field.

The Red Wolves played extremely conservatively, only taking 6 shots in the entire game. An efficient defense from the Red Wolves carried the game, as goalkeeper Demaris Deschaine got a career-high 9 saves and senior defender Mckenzie Robinson led the defense in disrupting the Monarchs from setting up drives. 

The Monarchs spent most of the game bombarding the Red Wolves with shots. In comparison to the Red Wolves 6 shots, Old Dominion shot 22 times, but never scored a goal. 

The first half of the game ended in a 0-0 tie, despite constant pressure from the Monarchs. In the second half, the Red Wolves managed to break the tie when midfielder Zoie Kempf got the ball to senior forward Emma Riales, who shot what would be the game-winning goal. The goal is Riales’ third on the season. The game closed with Deschaine recording 5 saves in a row, and the clock stopped with the Red Wolves up 1-0. 

Forward Keelyn Peacock led the Red Wolves in shots with 2, and got a shot on goal. The Red Wolves only had 2 total shots on goal, with Riales’ goal being the other. Deschaine led the team in saves, and Kempf led the team in assists with one.

The win was the Red Wolves first conference win of the season. Although A-State is likely to miss the conference tournament, the win certainly helps to boost spirits and close out the home season on a positive note. The Red Wolves will travel to Troy on Halloween to take on the Trojans, the only team in the Sun Belt ranked lower than them.

Categories: Sports