Jags Defeat UALR 2-1, Advance To Semifinals Against #4 Georgia Southern
Charde Hannah showed why she was named both the freshman and Offensive player of the year in the Jaguars first match of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last night at The Cage. Hannah scored both goals against eighth seeded Arkansas-Little Rock to lead the Jags to a 2-1 win in the opening round.
She opened the scoring in the ninth minute of the match when she followed her own miss from the right side and put it back into the net. That was how the score remained through halftime.
The Trojans evened the score shortly after halftime after a pair of shots were blocked before reaching the Jaguars goalkeeper. But a pass over the defense found Linnea Kogsta open and she was able to get it by Sarah Hay in the 49th minute.
Less than two minutes later, the Jaguars responded to regain the lead. Freshman Rio Hardy hit a through-ball which Hannah was able to get away from the defender and safely place into the right side of the net in the 51st minute.
“I thought it was a close and well-fought game,” South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said. “Arkansas-Little Rock are an extremely organized team and a very well-coached team. I have a lot of respect for my friend (Adrian Blewitt) over there. His team came out, were excellent and gave us a lot of scares.
“We’re fortunate to go through and I was pleased with our performance but a lot of credit needs to go to Little Rock as well.”
Hay had two saves, one in each half as her record improved to 14-1-1 on the season. The #1 seed Jags (17-2-1) advance to face #4 seed Georgia Southern on Friday at 7pm at The Cage in the semifinals. The winner will advance to the SBC Championship match on Sunday and will face the winner between #2 Troy and #3 Texas State.