Athlete of the Week: Jacksonville State women’s soccer

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. ( WIAT ) – As the days start to get shorter, student-athletes from Division I schools to middle schools are back to participate in fall sports.

While the NCAA’s sports calendar is just at the beginning, Jacksonville State women’s soccer is to a quick start on the pitch. Last Sunday, the Gamecocks went on the road to Huntsville to take on in-state rival North Alabama. Jax State beat the Lions, 5-0 in the first collegiate game in the home of Huntsville City FC.

The two standouts for Jax State on the pitch, Naroa Domenech and Melissa Kuya Strobel, each scored two goals in the win, earning them this week’s CBS 42 Athletes of the Week.

“It was a total team effort; we came into the game prepared and ready to play,” Kuya Strobel said. We had our game plan, and we executed really well.”

Jax State went into halftime up 2-0 over North Alabama, but once both teams returned to the pitch, Domenech started out on fire. The junior from Spain scored back-to-back goals in the early moments of the second half as Jax State was able to extend its lead to 4-0.

“I feel like, this year, we have a team that speaks our identity and our style of play,” Domenech said. “You just do anything you can do to help the team, either by scoring goals or playing defense.”

So far this season, Kuya Strobel believes Jax State can turn this start into a special season.

“We have so much talent on this team, it’s amazing what we can create with this team,” Kuya Strobel said.

Jax State head coach Sean Fraser is impressed with this group as the Gamecocks look to improve from their 6-9-2 record in 2023.

“We have a good group of people, and they get along really well,” Fraser said. “They seem to mesh really well and that’s what ultimately helped them become a team. (Mel)issa spoke to the team after (Sunday’s) win and said, ‘we’re all benefiting and we’re all together.’ That’s probably the biggest plus so far since we got started.”

The Gamecocks look to keep their undefeated season going as the team heads up to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday at noon.

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