Jaguar Soccer Extends Unbeaten Streak to 11 Matches
The Jaguar soccer team extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches over the weekend with two thrilling and hard fought overtime wins against Sun Belt foes Texas State and Appalachian State.
“I thought we did well tonight,” Jaguar head coach Graham Winkworth said. “We’ve started to erase the silly errors at the back. We needed a cleansheet and I’m happy we got one tonight. I’m also proud of how over the last two games we’ve stepped up our play in overtime. That brave attitude finally got rewarded tonight.”
On Friday evening, freshman Charde Hannah scored in the first overtime to lead the Jaguars over Texas State 1-0 in San Marcos. The Jags outshot the Bobcats 24-10 in the match but were even at 4-4 in shots on goal.
Texas State entered the match with the best defensive record in the conference with only 10 goals allowed on the season and a 0.91 goals against average.
Freshman Rio Hardy assisted Hannah, who netted her shot from the top of the box just inside the right post, in the 98th minute of the match.
“It was a great goal,” Winkworth said. “She played it along the 18 (yard box) and put another screamer into the net. She’s a handful and people could double or triple team her, but the good thing is, when teams do that, it opens up space for other players. We’re not a one-player team; we have a lot of talent on this roster. She’s obviously one of the very talented players on the team and is on form. She gets a lot of chances because she works hard for them and she’s playing with talented players.”
Sophomore Sarah Hay had four stops in the net for her sixth cleansheet of the year. Three of her saves came in the first half while the defense kept the bobcast from shooting on goal in the second half.
After a day off on Saturday, they traveled to Appalachian State for another thrilling overtime win, the third in a row for the Jaguars.
After a scoreless first half, Nini Rabsatt-Smith put the Jags on the board in the 58th minute off an assist from freshman Danielle Henley. Henley’s through-ball hit Rabsatt-Smith, who then dribbled around the goalkeeper for her third goal of the season.
Appalachian State tied the match 13 minutes later when Logan White connected with Jane Cline in the box.
Rabsatt-Smith would get her second goal of the match, and the game winner, less than five mintues into the extra period at the 94:32 mark with an assist by Rio Hardy.
“It wasn’t pretty,” coach Winkworth stated about the match. “Appalachian State are a team that is all about intensity, workrate and passion, so I told my team that they’ll have to go in and match that today and we did. We were able to show the same signs that they were and were fortunate enough to get a couple of goals that way. Nini was on the end of a couple and it was a nice way to end the game and the weekend.”
“It shows the character we’ve got because it’s difficult, particularly when you’ve been leading in games and you’re pulled back and go into extra time; it’s a massive mental challenge,” Winkworth said. “For us to be able to pull ourselves back up and finish the game is great.”
“What I really want to emphasize, is we have quality players for different types of games,” Winkworth continued. “In certain games we have to play in a technical way and we have the players to break teams down. Today, other players had to come in and battle a little bit more.”
Hay had five stops and allowed only one goal in the match.
With the win, the Jags tied the school record for consecutive games without a loss as they are 10-0-1 in the last 11 matches. Their record currently stands at 12-2-1 overall and 4-0-1 in confernece play. The Mountaineers fall to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
The Jags have four more matches left this season with the next two being played at home. They will host Georgia Southern on Friday at 7pm at The Cage when Georgia State on Sunday at 1pm.
With Georgia Southern’s loss to Georgia State, the Jags have moved into the top spot in the conference with a 4-0-1 conference record. But Georgia Southern and Texas State are tied for second place with 4-1 records.
Harris Suspended for First Half Against Georgia State
Maleki Harris, a senior from Cordova, Alabama, who forced two fumbles against Mississippi State and earned Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, September 15, 2014, was suspended for the first half of the Georgia State game. | Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Maleki Harris will have to sit out an extra half of football against Georgia State as punishment for his actions after being ejected for targeting against Appalachian State.
Harris was ejected in the first half of the Jaguars 47-21 win over Appalachian State last weekend and, by rule, he would have been eligible to start against Georgia State on October 18. However, after reviewing the film, head coach Joey Jones made the decision to suspend his for the first half against the Panthers.
“Upon reviewing the film, we do not condone Maleki’s reaction to the crowd after committing a targeting foul in the Appalachian State game,” Jones told AL.com. “He understands that he made a mistake and that what he did doesn’t represent the University of South Alabama in a first-class way. Maleki has been a model student-athlete for the past four years. We are confident that he will learn from this as he moves forward.”
Harris is team’s second-leading tackler with 36 stops this season, 16 solo, four tackles for loss, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, an interception and a quarterback hurry.
“I commend South Alabama head coach Joey Jones and director of athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann for taking institutional action,” Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson said. “This clearly demonstrates that the South Alabama athletics program is committed to the values of sportsmanship and fair play.”
The Jags (3-2 overall, 2-1 SBC) has an open date this weekend and will return to action on Saturday, October 18 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for homecoming against Georgia State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm.
Volleyball: Jags Defeat Troy 3-0 on the Road
The South Alabama volleyball team defeated Troy 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-17) on the road Wednesday evening.
Mechell Daniel led the Jaguars with 15 kills and three blocks with Jessica Lewis adding 10 blocks herself. Emily Hundt chipped in with 23 assists and 11 digs as Emma Anderson added 15 assists. Abby Baker led with 29 digs and Jenna Hassell was in double digits with 10 digs as well.
Troy’s Tineille Waggoner led the Trojans with 29 assists while Ali Dowdall led with 18 digs.
The Jags outhit the Trojans .243 to .130 in the first set, .220 to .163 in the second and .429 to .097 in the last set in the win.
Troy falls to 9-11 overall and 1-7 in conference play.
South Alabama improves to 9-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play. They will face Texas-Arlington in Mobile to start a three-match homestand beginning Friday and continuing on Saturday against Georgia Southern and concluding with Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday, October 19.
Jaguar Men’s Basketball Begin 2014-2015 Season with First Workout
The Jaguars Men’s Basketball team kicked off the 2014-2015 season and year two under Matthew Graves on Monday morning with their first team workout.
It was their first practice session as they begin preparation for the season and their exhibition match on November 6 against Mobile.
Six players return from last years team including the leading returning scorer Ken Williams but will ahve nine newcomers as well.
Those six player will be key as last season Graves was working to implement his system, they will have knowledge of his system and can help their new teammates learn the system.
“We are further along (than we were last year),” Graves said. “We still have a long ways to go, but this first practice, we were able to get through probably 50 percent more than we were a year ago, and that’s in part to how hard our guys worked this summer, and even though half of our roster is new, we were still able to accomplish some things because the new guys were here all summer and that made a huge difference.
“It helps that (the returning players have) been through it and when we call out a drill or running a play, they know what we’re doing. They’re getting more comfortable with helping the new guys, and one thing I noticed from this morning is we have a lot more competition from the second group. Last year it was pretty one-sided but this year our second group, with a guy like Nick Stover, that’s sitting out with a redshirt, is really going to be vital for that second group to push the first group. Having that competition in practice on a daily basis is really going to help us get better throughout the year.”
The Jags only have one scholarship senior on the roster in Dionte Ferguson. The team is comprised of two seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen.
Last season the Jaguars finished 11-20 overall and 5-13 in conference play. The season begins on November 11 against Carroll (Mont.) after their exhibition match against the University of Mobile on November 6.
USA Football Announces Finalization of 2016, ’17 Non-Conference Schedules
South Alabama Players thanking the fans for their support after a narrow defeat on the road in Knoxville, TN in 2013.
The University of South Alabama Athletcs announced that they have finalized their 2016 and 2017 non-conference football schedules.
The 2015 schedule, which was already finalized, includes a season opener at home against Gardner-Webb on September 5, at Nebraska on September 12, at UAB on September 19 and hosting North Carolina State on September 26. While the conference schedule has not been finalized with dates, they will be playing Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Idaho, ULL, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Texas State and Troy.
The 2016 schedule has the Jaguars opening their season in Starkville to face Mississippi State to complete their three-came contract. Hosting UAB on September 10 and Nicholls State on September 24, then on the road against LSU on October 15.
The 2017 schedule has the Jaguars opening against Ole Miss in Oxford on September 2, Hosting Oklahoma State on September 9 and Alabama A&M on September 16, then traveling to Louisiana Tech on September 30.
The complete list of dates on the future schedules (but time and date may be subject to change):
- 2015: September 5 hosting Gardner-Webb, September 12 @ Nebraska, September 19 @ UAB, September 26 hosting North Carolina State, App St, Arkansas St, Idaho, ULL, @ Georgia Southern, @ Georgia State, @ Texas State, @ Troy.
- 2016: September 3 @ Mississippi State, September 10 @ UAB, September 24 hosting Nicholls State, October 15 @ LSU
- 2017: September 2 @ Ole Miss, September 9 hosting Oklahoma State, September 16 hosting Alabama A&M, September 30 @ Louisiana Tech
- 2018: September 1 hosting Louisiana Tech, September 8 @ Oklahoma State
- 2019: August 31 @ Nebraksa, September 28 @ Tulane
- 2020: September 5 @ Southern Miss, September 19 @ Oklahoma State, October 10 hosting Tulane
- 2021: September 4 hosting Southern Miss, September 11 @ Bowling Green
Monday Press Conference
Head coach Joey Jones, sophomore defensive back Roman Buchanan and offensive lineman Chris May met with the media on Monday to recap the Jaguars win over Appalachian State and to discuss their open date this weekend.
Coach Jones
“I think (the open date) comes at a good time,” Jones said about the open date on Saturday. “We do have some guys banged up — I think there are 17 or 18 in the training rooms with a variety of injuries — and although most of them would be okay it’s good that we have a little time to rest. It’s good for the coaches too to be able to stop and reflect a little bit and see how we need to get better fundamentally. We get caught up in schemes so much during the season that sometimes you forget about fundamentals.”
“We’re a better football team, there is no doubt about that,” Jones said about his teams progress through five games. “Can we be a lot better than this? Yes. When you have games like that [Saturday at Appalachian State] you tend to look at it through rose colored glasses but I don’t. I know there are some areas we can improve on. If we continue to work on those and take those lessons to heart, and learn from our mistakes, we can become a great football team. We’re playing better, but by no means are we playing as good as we can play.”
“We’re going to start working on the game plan for Georgia State,” Jones said bout what the team will work on during their off week. “But more of our practice will be focused on fundamentals as opposed to team periods — today was almost a fully fundamental day, and we worked on a couple of special teams to try and improve there.”
“I bet they are going to sleep in because we get them up 5:30-6 a.m. every morning,” Jones said about what the players will do with the open weekend. “They have a couple days to do that [with the school on Fall Break] and enjoy that time while letting their bodies recuperate. As coaches we push and push, we always want to drive them to be the best, and sometimes we probably work them too hard. A good time to rest is a good thing for their bodies and their minds. I know when I played it was nice to have an off week, to sit back and watch other games on a Saturday and enjoy being a real fan.”
“I have greater expectations than the way we are playing right now to be honest with you, I think we can play even better,” Jones commented on the offense’s performance over the last two games and what he has expected out of them. “There are some things we could’ve done better the other night. Have we improved from the first of the year? Yes, that’s obvious.
“I think consistency is the key to execution on offense. When you look at those first couple of games — and granted, we played some really good football teams in Mississippi State and Georgia Southern — we struggled with some little things, but I knew they were things we could fix. A great offense is about execution, you have to execute the plays; if you throw a five-yard pass you have to block, throw it and catch it — it’s fairly simple. But if one of those three things breaks down then the play is no good.
“It just comes down to what we do, so during that time focused on us, and I think that made us better. And guys took ownership at each position after I challenged them, they have stepped up their play and are playing to the level I think they can play at. Therefore, the offense is playing much better.”
Offensive lineman Chris May:
South Alabama and ULL Match Ends In Draw
The Women’s soccer team earned a 4-4 draw against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday at The Cage to end the Jaguars eight-match winning streak. But their unbeaten streak sits and nine.
South Alabama took and early 2-0 lead in the match. Steffi Hardy scored on a header on a long free kick by Nikki Shirtcliffe, who got the assist, in the 15th minute of play.
Less than four minutes later, Charde Hannah put one away with an assist by Danielle Henley for the 2-0 lead.
But the Ragin’ Cajuns would tie the match before halftime. Yazmin Montoya would get the first goal on a penalty kick in the 32nd minute. Then in the 43rd minute Annika Schmidt would score after a loose ball by a Jaguar defender.
After the half, Bailey Scott would give the Cajuns a 3-2 lead in the 45th minute.
Rio Hardy would tie the game again with her eighth goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 55th minute. In the 70th minute, Hannah would add her 13th goal of the season after a long run down the right side.
But the Cajuns would not go down, Schmidt scored her second goal of the match after a turnover and long shot to beat the goal keeper in the 86th minute to tie the game a four apiece.
The Jags outshot the Cajuns 5-2 in the two extra periods of play, including one that hit the crossbar and another that grazed the bar, but none could find the back of the net.
Sarah Hay went the distance, allowing four goals with three saves.
“Today was not our best performance,” USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I’m proud of the girls’ work ethic; they worked extremely hard, but I’ve got to do much better. We tied 4-4 against a very good and very enthusiastic Louisiana-Lafayette team, so I want to give them a lot of praise, but we’ve got to perform better and I’ve got to do a better job of preparing them to do that.”
USA’s record sits at 10-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in conference play. ULL’s record goes to 5-6-2 overall and 0-3-1 in conference play.
With that match, the Jags completed their five-match homestand. They will travel to Texas State on Friday for a 7pm match against the Bobcats.
Kickoff Time Set for South Alabama Versus Georgia State
South Alabama’s homecoming game against Georgia State on Saturday, October 18 will kickoff at 6:30pm as announced by the Sun Belt Conference office on Monday.
The Jags (3-2, 2-1 SBC) has an open weekend after back-to-back conference wins on the road against Idaho and Appalachian State.
Georgia State (1-4, 0-2 SBC) will host defending Sun Belt co-champion Arkansas State this weekend after they fell to the other co-champion of the conference from last season, Louisiana-Lafayette.
This is the fourth time the Panthers and Jaguars have met on the football field with the Jaguars leading the series 2-1 after a 38-17 win in the Georgia Dome last season.
The game will be televised on ESPN3.
Jags Volleyball Break Three Match Losing Streak by Defeating Georgia State 3-1
The Jaguar volleyball team rallied to snap their three match losing streak by defeating Georgia State 3-1 in Atlanta on Saturday.
The Jags lost the first set but rallied back and won the next three to defeat the Panthers 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-21).
Mechell Daniel and Jessica Lewis led the Jags offensively as Daniel recorded 16 kills and hit .385, a season best, and had only one attack error in her 39 attempts. Lewis was equally as good with 14 kills while hitting .324.
Nikki Gittens added eight kills while hitting .438 and led the team with four blocks, one solo and three assists. Symone Stephenson added seven kills and hit .308.
The team hitting percentage of .338 was the second highest this season, they hit .368 in their straight set win over the Panthers earlier this season in Mobile.
Emily Hundt led the Jags with four aces as they held a 10-7 advantage in service aces in the match. Jenna Hassell and Savannah Stewart both had two aces each.
Abby Baker led the team with 15 digs whiel Hassell added 11 digs of her own.
The Jags improve to 8-8 overall and 3-3 in Conference play. The Panthers fall to 3-12 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
THe Jags will round out their three-match road swing on Wednesday when they travel to Troy.
Jaguar Soccer Wins 8th Straight by Defeating ULM 7-2 Friday
The South Alabama women’s soccer team won their eighth consecutive match on Friday when they defeated Louisiana-Monroe 7-2 at The Cage. The eight match winning streak is the second longest in school history.
The seven goals scored by the Jaguars are the second-most ever scored against a Sun Belt opponent, nine against UALR is the record, and the most against ULM in the series history between the schools.
The Jags scored their first three goals in a span of five minutes in the first half. After falling behind 1-0 midway through the first half, the Jags would score five unanswered to take control of the match.
The Warhawks could strike first in the 27th minute on their first shot of the match. The Jags had a 10-0 attempt advantage until that point.
Charde Hannah would set up the next two goals to help the Jags take the lead. Sophomore Monique Autmon tied the match at one in the 35th minute. Just 82 seconds later Hannah would set up freshman Sophie Haywood for her seventh goal of the season to put the Jags ahead 2-1. Then at the 39:53 mark, freshman Rio Hardy ended the scoring outburst after gaining control of a ULM goal kick and taking it the rest of the way, putting the Jags up 3-1 in quick fashion.
The Warhawks came out in the second half with the first five shots of the period, four of them on the net. Then the Jags regrouped and outshot ULM 18-1 the remainder of the match.
Freshman Steffi Hardy and junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith would add to the Jaguars lead in the 61st and 69th minutes before ULM netted their only other goal of the match.
Fellow freshman Danielle Henley and Chelsea Followwell ended the scoring with goals in the 77th minute assisted by Meagan O’Loughlin and in the 86th minute assisted by Rio Hardy, respectively.
Sophomore Sarah Hay had five stops on the day.
“I thought we played well,” Jaguar head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I thought we moved the ball well, particularly in the first half; I thought our ball movement was excellent.”
“The girls were being patient,” Winkworth said about the match. “We were in control of the game in the first half. We went a goal down, but I really wasn’t concerned because we were creating a lot of chances. As long as we’re creating chances, I’m not too nervous. We continued to do that, and I was pleased.”
“We changed a few things and I think it took us a few minutes to settle down,” Winkworth said. “We were still strong defensively; Sarah (Hay) made a couple of big saves, but once she did that, I thought the rest of the half, we were solid defensively and continued what we’ve done most of the season. I’m disappointed to have conceded a couple of goals, but at the same time, when we’ve created that many chances and scored that many goals, you can’t really complain.”