SWAC Tournament Central

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Celene Batrez scored nine minutes after the opening kickoff and again nine minutes from the final whistle to lead the Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers to a 2-0 victory over Southern in the opening round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference postseason soccer tournament.

The Panthers (10-7-1), seeded No. 2 in the SWAC tournament, will face No. 3 Alabama State in the semifinal round Friday at 6 p.m.

Batrez, a senior from San Jacinto, Calif. (San Bernardino Valley College) scored her first (and second) goals since Prairie View A&M's 5-1 victory over Alabama State to open conference play Sept. 26. Thursday's goals were her fourth and fifth for the season.

Nahuacalli Romo-Lara (San Diego, Calif. / Patrick Henry HS) provided the assist to Batrez' second goal of the match.

She also became the first Lady Panther with multiple goals in a game since Alicia Cooper (Missouri City, Texas / Tyler Junior College) scored a hat trick Oct. 12 at Mississippi Valley State.

In addition to the obvious implications that come with a postseason match, Thursday's win was also a historic triumph in the annals of Prairie View A&M soccer. The Lady Panthers reached 10 victories for the first time in their 13-year program history.

Bianca Garza (Nederland, Texas / Nederland) had a relatively easy evening en route to her sixth shutout of the season. The senior goalkeeper – who was named to the All-SWAC First Team on Wednesday – only needed to make two saves for her clean sheet.

The Lady Panthers' defense – anchored by All-SWAC First Team honoree Debbie Arguelles and Second Teamer Reina Mata – once again limited Southern's chances to score. The Lady Panthers defeated Southern by an identical 2-0 scoreline at home two weeks ago.

The Lady Jaguars had a chance to tie the match in the 80th minute, but Fabiola Parra's shot was turned away by Garza.

Prairie View A&M will be aiming to repeat its earlier performance against Alabama State, though the Panthers should expect to see an improved Hornets sqauad take the field Friday. Alabama State was fighting through key injuries in its previous meeting with PVAMU.