USA Women’s Soccer Advance To SBC Championship Match On Sunday
The South Alabama women’s soccer team celebrate an overtime shootout win in the semifinal match against Arkansas State in San Marcos Texas. They advance to the Championship Match on Sunday, November 10 at 1pm. | sunbeltsports.org
The championship match is set for the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship. The #2 seeded Jaguars defeated #6 seeded Arkansas State in an overtime shootout. Later, the #1 seeded Western Kentucky defeated #4 seeded host Texas State 1-0 to also advance.
Arkansas State struck first in the eighth minute when Samhia Simoa took a free kick pass from Ashley Jackson inside the 6-yard box and got it by Drish for the early 1-0 lead.
The Jags tied it up in the 21st minute when Lauren Allison collected a rebound after a shot deflected off of ASU Goalkeeper Amanda Lee and she was there to put it in the net for the tie.
Neither team would score the remainder of regulation and would go into overtime at a 1-1 gridlock. Then neither team could muster an attack in the first or second overtim periods which forced a shootout to determine who would advance.
In the shootout, both teams connected on 4-of-5 shots. South Alabama’s Jordan Duncan netted the first attempt to put the Jags up 5-4 then ASU senior Alex Furr answered by netting her own goal past USA’s Melissa Drish to tie it up again.
Jaguar Shawn Meach then scored again for the Jags as she placed her kick just out of reach of Lee to take the 6-5 lead. Then Drish stopped ASU’s Jenna Duerst’s attempt to secure the victory for the Jags.
South Alabama and Western Kentucky will face off in the Championship match on Sunday at 1pm (CT). The match will be aired on the Sun Belt Network, check your local listings for channel information.
USA Soccer Faces ASU In Semifinals Of The Sun Belt Championships
The #2 seeded South Alabama Women’s Soccer team returns to action today when they face #6 seed Arkansas State at 4pm in San Marcos, Texas in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championships.
The Jags defeated Georgia State 2-0 on Wednesday to advance to the semi’s. Arkansas State defeated the #3 seeded ULL Ragin’ Cajun’s to advance.
The Jags defeated ASU in October 2-0 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The winner will face the winner between #1 Western Kentucky and #4 Texas State in the championship match on Sunday at 1pm. That match will be aired on the Sun Belt Network.
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.
USA Women’s Soccer Opens SBC Championships At 10am
South Alabama women’s soccer team opens the SBC Championships at 10am in San Marcos Texas. The #2 seeded Jaguars will face the #7 seeded Georgia State Panthers in the opening match this morning.
Go Jags!!
Jags Land Four On All-SBC Team; Allison Named Offensive Player And Freshman Of The Year
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team had four student-athletes named to the All-Sun Belt Conference at the 2013 Women’s Soccer Awards Banquet on Tuesday. Also Lauren Allison was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Allison along with senior midfielder Clarissa Hernandez were named to the First-Team All-SBC team. Senior defenders Jess Oram and Shelby Owen were named to the second team. This marks the first time a Jaguar player has earned postseason All-Conference since 2008 and four selections are the most for the Jags since 2002.
Allison becomes the first student-athlete in Sun Belt History to win both the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season.
Allison, a Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom native, finished the regular season with 39 points which ranks fourth-most in South Alabama’s single-season history. She had 14 goals and 11 assists. She led the Sun Belt in goals, goals per game, assists, assists per game and game-winning goals. She was twice named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week. She also ranks in the Top 25 in the NCAA in six offensive categories including points per game (5th), total points (8th), total assists (12th), assists per game (12th), total goals (19th) and goals per game (19th).
Hernandez was a 2013 preseason All-SBC selection and performed as expected. The senior recorded five goals and assists. Hernandez was named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District for the third year in a row.
Oran and Owen were the anchors in the Jaguar defense for the fourth consecutive year. They combined to keep seven opponents scoreless. The three seniors, Oram, Owen and Hernandez, could set a new South Alabama record for games played if they can advance to the Championship Match of the 2013 SBC Championships which begin today in San Marcos, Texas.
“I am delighted that these girls have been recognized by the coaches in the league,” said Jaguar head coach Graham Winkworth. “It is a huge honor to be an all-conference player in what is a league full of talent.”
“I am delighted for our three seniors: Riz, Jess and Shelby,” he continued. “They have been wonderful leaders in this squad and their work ethic since my arrival has been truly unbelievable. I am also very excited for Lauren. I knew from when I was recruiting her she would provide us with an additional threat up top and I cannot speak highly enough of her work for this team.”
“One of the greatest things about all these girls is that they always put their team first,” Winkworth concluded. “This team has worked magic over the last 10 months moving from number seven to number two in the league, and I am so proud of every one of them. They have also improved over 80 places in the NCAA RPI ratings. This team can really hold their heads very high with all they have achieved.”
South Alabama Soccer Earns #2 Seed For SBC Championships
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team earned a #2 seed for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship that begin on November 6 in San Marcos, Texas.
The Jags finished the season 12-5-2 overall and 5-2-1 in Sun Belt play. Regular season champ Western Kentucky finished the season with an 8-5-5 record overall and 6-2-0 record in Sun Belt play. WKU won the regular season with 18 points with the Jags finishing second with 16 points in a tie with third place UL-Lafayette but by virtue of winning their head-to-heat matchup, USA won the tiebreaker.
Additionally the Tournament Schedule was released and can be seen below. The Jags will open Tournament play against 7th seeded Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC) at 10am on Wednesday, November 6. The Championship game will be held on 1pm on Sunday, November 10 and will be broadcast live on the Sun Belt Network.
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Seeds
1. WKU (8-5-5, 6-2-0 SBC [18 pts])
2. South Alabama (12-5-2, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
3. UL-Lafayette (8-6-3, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
4. Texas State (7-8-2, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
5. Troy (8-9-1, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
6. Arkansas State (9-7-2, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
7. Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
8. UALR (4-13-0, 1-7-0 SBC [3 pts])
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Schedule of Events
Wednesday, November 6
MATCH 1 – 10 a.m. CT – No. 7 Georgia State vs. No. 2 South Alabama
MATCH 2 – 1 p.m. CT – No. 6 Arkansas State vs. No. 3 UL-Lafayette
MATCH 3 – 4 p.m. CT – No. 8 UALR vs. No. 1 WKU
MATCH 4 – 7 p.m. CT – No. 5 Troy vs. No. 4 Texas State
Friday, November 8
MATCH 5 – 4 p.m. CT – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
MATCH 6 – 7 p.m. CT – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Championship Sunday, November 10
MATCH 7 – 1 p.m. CT – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (Broadcast Live on Sun Belt Network)
All times central
USA Soccer Finishes Season With 3-1 Win Over ULM
The South Alabama women’s soccer team scored twice in a two minute span against Louisiana-Monroe to end the regular season with a 3-1 win on Senior Day.
The Jags (12-5-2, 5-2-1 SBC) also claimed maximum points on Thursday against ULL to finish the weekend with six points and helps the team to climb from fourth to second in the unofficial final regular season standings.
The Jags are tied with the ULL for second, but would be seeded ahead based on their win over them on Thursday.
Senior Shelby Owen opened the scoring for the Jags in the third minute. ULM (6-12-1, 1-7-0 SBC) could not manage a shot on goal until the 18th minute. They needed at least a share of points to receive a berth in the SBC Championship in San Marcox, Texas on November 6 – 10.
Five minutes into the second half, they would tie the game after a penalty.
The Jags responded with two goals in the 78th and 80th minutes of the match to put the game away. The Jags will now prepare for the Sun Belt Championships on November 6-10 when they face Georgia State. The Jags defeated the Panthers in Atlanta on October 10 by a score of 2-1.
Final seedings will be announced by the Sun Belt Conference soon.
Jaguar Women’s Soccer Defeat ULL 4-2
Freshman Lauren Allison scored three goals against ULL on Thursday evening. | Photo usajaguars.com
The South Alabama women’s soccer team controlled the match against Louisiana-Lafayette from beginning to end at The Cage on Thursday and earned the 4-2 victory.
The Jags snapped a back-to-back losing streak when they Jags were shutout by Western Kentucky and Troy. The Jags (11-5-2 overall, 4-2-1 SBC) shook that off and quickly got on the scoreboard in the eighth minute when Lauren Allison got her first goal in four matches.
Senior midfielder Clarissa Hernandez followed with two shots on goal before knocking home a header of sophomore defender Nini Rabsatt-Smith’s corner kick to put the Jags up 2-0.
ULL finally got on the scoreboard after an appeal for a handball. Freshman Yazmin Montoya netted her chance and cut the Jaguar lead in half to 2-1.
Seven minutes into the second half (53rd minute) sophomore Jordan Duncan intercepted a ULL pass, fed it to Allison who netted it for the Jags to regain their two goal lead at 3-1. Allison would add another goal less than 20 minutes later (71st minute) to push the Jags lead to 4-1.
Montoya scored for ULL in the 90th minutes, just before the final whistle, for the final score of 4-2.
The Jags regular season finale will get started at 1pm at The Cage when they host ULM Warhawks. As tradition for Senior Day, the seniors will be honored during the pregame. The match, along with all the lady Jaguar matches, are free to the public.
Jaguar Women’s Soccer Host ULL, ULM In Regular Season Finale
The South Alabama women’s soccer team will conclude their regular season schedule with home matches against Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Jags (10-5-2, 3-2-1 SBC) will face ULL (8-5-2, 5-1-0 SBC) on Thursday at 7pm. Then they will host ULM (6-10-1, 1-5-0 SBC) on Sunday afternoon.
The team will be wearing pink on Thursday for Breast Cancer Awareness then will hold a silent auction on-site for four NCAA pink soccer balls used in the weekend’s matches. Money raised from the auction will be presented to Troy in support of it’s “Project 19 Campaign.”
Sunday will be Senior Day as 14 Jaguars will be recognized during pregame. Both matches will be free to the public at The Cage, which is located on Old Shell Road just east of Eddie Stanky Field.
The Jags will travel to San Marcos, Texas for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament on November 6-10 despite the outcomes this weekend. However they look to improve their conference standing as well as improve on their 4-1-1 home record.
Go Jags!
Lady Jags Soccer Fall To Troy 1-0
The South Alabama Women’s Soccer team fell at Troy on Sunday afternoon. The Jags were once the nation’s leader in scoring but have been held scoreless for the second time in a week after falling to Troy 1-0.
Necee Jennings netted a goal in the 66th minute to even their conference record and pull within one match of the Jaguars. The Jags (10-5-2 overall, 3-2-1 SBC) fell to third place after last week’s loss to Western Kentucky. Troy improved to 7-9 overall and 3-3-0 in Sun Belt play.
The Jags will host the final two matches of the regular season with Conference runner-up Louisiana-Lafayette set to visit The Cage on Thursday at 7pm then eighth place Louisiana-Monroe to visit on Sunday at 1pm.