Jaguar Soccer Advances To Semifinals Of SBC Championships
Clarissa Hernandez scored both goals in the Jaguars 2-0 win over Georgia State. They advance to play #6 seeded Arkansas State Friday at 4pm. | usajaguars.com
The Sun Belt Championships began in San Marcos, Texas on Wednesday. South Alabama kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win over Georgia State.
South Alabama (13-5-2, 3-2-1 SBC) is the second seeded team in the tournament and earned their first postseason win since 2005. They advance to Friday’s semifinals where they will face the #6 seeded Arkansas State Red Wolves after they upset the #3 seeded UL-Lafayette 2-1.
The match took place during some harsh weather. They opened the game with a strong wind at their back and used it to their advantage as they outshot the Panthers eight to two. Panther’s goalkeeper made three stops before Hernandez netted a goal.
Hernandez then doubled the Jaguar lead just five minutes into the second period when she netted freshman Nikki Shirtcliffe’s free kick.
GSU did not go down easy as they produced 13 of the match’s final 14 shots but the Jaguar defense and senior goalkeeper Melissa Drish turned them all away as the Jags earned their eighth shutout of the year.
Hernandez moves into eighth place all-time in career points at South Alabama with her fifth and sixth goals of the season. With 53 points, she is just one shy of seventh place.
Also, Hernandez, Jess Oram and Shelby Owen all move into a tie for second place in games played at USA as each of them have 81 games each.
The Jags will face Arkansas State on Friday at 4pm. They defeated the Red Wolves 2-0 in Jonesboro, Arkansas back on October 6.
In the other side of the bracket, #4 seeded Texas State defeated #5 Troy 2-1 in overtime and will face #1 seed Western Kentucky, who defeated #8 seed Arkansas-Little Rock 2-1.