EDINBURG, Texas – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team rolled to a 6-1 victory over Alabama State on Thursday night at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The Knights had seven players record at least a point in the contest and five of the six goals were assisted.

FDU junior Sofia Albertsson led the Knights offense with two goals. In their first collegiate game, freshmen Maja Skansberg and Naemi Hausen each netted a goal. The other two Knights' goals came off a strike from sophomore Madelyn Robbins and junior Alyssa Caggiano. Junior Viktorija Miseljic and sophomore Paula Ruess each dished out two assists. Sophomore Lea Egner and junior Alexiane Marquis also tallied assists for the Burgundy and Blue.

"We came out aggressive and had a good mindset of wanting to score," said head coach Eric Teepe after the contest. "We were looking to play the ball on and were very unselfish, while still having an aggressive approach. Once we scored that first goal, we got the ball rolling and gained confidence. Defensively, we were strong and I thought our forwards did a great job of defending high up the field."

The contests' first 20 minutes of action was back and forth as each team generated corner kick opportunities, but neither team was able to register a shot on goal. In the 21st minute, Miseljic created the first quality chance of the game, but Alabama State freshman Hrafnhildur Hjaltalin made a save on the ball. Less than a minute later, FDU's offense recorded its first goal of the season when Albertsson buried a shot off a nice pass from Egner.

FDU's offense then put constant pressure on the Hornets backline, peppering five shots within the next 10 minutes after the Albertsson goal. The Knights struck again when Skansberg received a pass from Ruess and struck it into the back of the next in the 34th minute. In the 38th minute, Hausen recorded her first career goal off passes from Ruess and Miseljic to give the Knights a 3-0 edge. In the first half of action, FDU held Alabama State without a shot and generated 13 shots (four on goal) of its own.

"I think it was good for Maja, Naemi and Alexiane to record points in the game," Teepe said. "They all should gain confidence from the performance, and each contributed to the game in a positive way. Maja was all over the field and created a ton of great chances. It was good to get a lot of players in the game and see what they can do to help this team."

The Burgundy and Blue came out with the same intensity to start the second half, and Albertsson recorded her second goal of the game in the 55th minute off a nice feed from Miseljic. Robbins then tallied another Knight goal less than four minutes later to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Hornets got their first shot of the game in the 66th minute, but FDU junior Cassandra Marcoux recorded a save on the strike. Marcoux then stopped another Alabama State shot less than two minutes later.

The Hornets went on to score their only goal off a kick from sophomore Fabienne Balvers in the 70th minute. Caggiano answered with a goal of her own in the 82nd minute to give the Knights their sixth and final goal of the game.

The Knights had 22 players play in the contest, and freshmen Nina Carlomusto and Cayla Waterman played in their first career games. FDU senior goalie Amanda Fitzgerald recorded her first win of the season and the 21st win of her career.

The Burgundy and Blue return to action on Sunday, August 25, at 12 p.m., against the University of Miami in the final game of the UTRGV Tournament.