USA Soccer Drops First Match At Home
The South Alabama Soccer team dropped their first match at home on Sunday with a 1-0 loss to Western Kentucky at The Cage.
WKU’s Laurent Moats netted a ball in the 58th minute on a counter attak that the Jags were unable to recover against.
The Jags answered the goal with seven shots to the Hilltoppers’ two, but could not get one into the net.
The Lady Jaguars fall to 10-4-2 overall on the season and 3-1-1 in SBC play. WKU improved to 7-3-4 overall and 5-0-0 in SBC play.
They will travel to Troy on Sunday for a 1pm match against the Trojans as they have only three remaining regular season matches before the SBC Conference Championships get under way on November 6 in San Marcos, Texas.
Lady Jag Soccer Defeate Georgia State 2-1 In Atlanta
The South Alabama women’s soccer team defeated Georgia State 2-1 in Atlanta on Thursday to improve their record to 10-3-2 overall and 3-0-1 in Sun Belt Play.
Freshman Monique Autmon opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after gathering in a Lauren Allison deflected shot. She then curled it past the conference leader in saves for the goal.
Jordan Duncan would add to the lead about half way through the second half. She came in as a substitute seven minutes before the score. Clarissa Hernandez kicked the ball behind the Panther defense. GSU’s Brie Haynes came out to clear the ball, but missed the opportunity and watched Duncan place her fifth goal of the year into the open net for a 2-0 lead for the Jags.
The Panthers managed a goal in the 85th minute to cut the lead to 2-1, but could not manage to get the ball into the net again.
The Jags will return home to face the conference leading and preseason favorite Western Kentucky at 1pm on Sunday at The Cage.
USA Soccer’s Allison Named SBC Offensive Player Of The Week
Lauren Allison was named the SBC Offensive Player of the Week on October 8 | Photo usajaguars.com
On Tuesday, Lauren Allison of the South Alabama women’s soccer team was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week for her performances last week.
She scored her third game-winner of the year against UALR on Friday then assisted on both Jaguar goals against Arkansas State on Sunday for a four-point weekend. That makes her season total 29 which is tied for seventh in South Alabama single-season history.
Allison, a freshman from Hicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdon, has also broken into the Jaguars single-season top 10 in assists as she is now tied for eighth with nine total. Her 10 goals on the season is one shy of a Jaguar top-10 record.
She leads the Sun Belt Conference in every offensive category except goals per game which she is currently second.
Allison ranks in the NCAA’s top 25 nationally in five offensive categories which include Total points (29, 5th), Total Assists (9, 6th), Assists per game (0.69, 8th), Points Per Game (2.23, 11th) and Total Goals (10, 19th). She also ranks 30th in goals per game with 0.769.
She is the fourth Jag to earn a weekly conference honor this year and the first since goalkeeper Melissa Drish was named the Defensive Player of the Week on September 10.
The Lady Jags will face Georgia State on Thursday at 6pm in Atlanta and will face Western Kentucky on Sunday at The Cage at 1pm.
USA Women’s Soccer Win Both Weekend Games On Road
The South Alabama Jaguar women’s soccer team earned it’s seventh shutout of the year and capped off a two-win Sun Belt Conference road trip this weekend.
The Jags (9-3-2, 2-0-1 SBC) defeated Arkansas State 2-0 giving them their first home loss of the 2013 season. Nini Rabsatt-Smith and Clarissa Hernandez netted goals in the span of 10 minutes about half way through the second period. Lauren Allison picked up two assists as well.
The Jags will next travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State on October 10. Georgia State are 1-3 at home this season.
Hernandez Named To 2012 NCSAA All-South Region Team
South Alabama Junior midfielder Clarissa Hernandez was named to the 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s NCAA Women’s Division I All-South Region Team.
She led the Jaguars in almost every statistical category in the fall. She led the team in goals with six, assists 5, shots 56, shots on goal 24 and tied with junior Kristyn Thacker in game-winning goals with two. She also finished in the top 10 among Sun Belt Conference players in each of the previous stats.
Hernandez is from Pensacola, Florida.
She scored a goal and added two assists for the Jags in a 4-0 win over ULM in mid-October. It was a single game career high for Hernandez with four points. She also put the Jags ahead of FAU on a free kick in late September.
The Jags finished the season 8-10-3 and earned a berth in the Conference tournament for the second consecutive season.
Winkworth Named Head Soccer Coach
Graham Winkworth, photo from roarlions.com
The University of South Alabama Athletic Director Joel Erdmann announced that the school has named Graham Winkworth head soccer coach on Monday.
Winkworth comes to South Alabama from Division II University of North Alabama after leading them to the NCAA Tournament each of the last four years. Winkworth has spent the last 10 seasons with UNA while posting an overall record of 111-81-8, the most wins for a coach in UNA school history. His team has a record of 65-18-3 over the last four years.
“We considered several highly-qualified candidates as part of our national search,” Erdmann said. “Graham’s record of success, highlighted by his documented ability to build a consistently competitive program, is impressive. We feel he is a tremendous fit to lead our soccer program into the future.”
“I’ve had the chance to work with Dr. Erdmann in the past, I really enjoyed that experience so I am looking forward to working together again” Winkworth stated. “When I came down and visited, I saw that there were lovely facilities. Everyone that I met within the department was so friendly, it seems like they are all happy in that environment. I thought I would like to be a part of that and am very excited to be joining the staff.”
His recent run of success began during the 2009 season when UNA went 19-4-1 and set a program record for wins in a season and earned the schools first berth in the Gulf South Conference tournament since 1999 and the first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for the Lions. They would go on and win their opening match. The 2009 season would mark an 11 win increase over the previous season and would be the biggest improvment in the nation on his way to being voted the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year.
Then in 2010 the Lions finished with a 16-4-1 mark while going 6-1 in the conference and returning to the NCAA tournament. The 2011 season they would post a 17-4 mark while going 6-1 in the conference again while earning a share of the regular-season title.
Winkworth led the program to the conference tournament title with wins over UAH, Valdosta State and also ended West Florida’s 54 match conference win streak.
Last season the Lions went 13-6-1 and 6-2-1 in the conference to advance to the title match of the conference tournament and won its NCAA Tournament first-round match against Valdosta State.
During his time at UNA the school produced the first two All-Americans in school history as well as 33 all-GSC selections.
“The key was definitely the people,” Winkworth said of his success at UNA. “When I started working at North Alabama, we didn’t have quite the funding that they have now. Dr. Erdmann put some things into place before he left, and Mr. [Mark] Linder continued that process. That enabled me to bring in some amazing people, I have been so lucky these last few years to work with and coach some fantastic individuals and lovely young ladies. They were able to create a family-type environment, and with that the girls wore the shirt with pride and would run through brick walls for me.”
“I’m very thankful and very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such amazing young ladies,” he continued. “It’s going to be difficult leaving these girls because they are fantastic young women, but I know that they will continue to be successful because of that.”
Winkworth is a native of Reading, England and is a 2000 graduate of the University of Central Lancashire. He earned his master’s degree from UNA in 2005 and last fall earned his United States Soccer Federation A license.
His coaching career began in England with Preston North End Football Club as an assistant with the Center of Excellence before serving as the assistant men’s and women’s coach at Cumberland (TN) during the 2000 season. He was then an assistant at Central Arkansas for two years before taking the position at UNA.
BREAKING NEWS: Mike Varga Out As Jaguar Soccer Coach
South Alabama Athletic Director Joel Erdmann announced that the University will not renew the contract for head soccer coach Mike Varga and that a national search for his replacement will begin immediately.
Varga has been the head coach at South Alabama for the last 14 seasons and compiled a 121-131-26 record over that time period. He also led them to a share of the 2000 Sun Belt Conference regular-season title. He also led them to the championship match in the 2005 conference tournament.
Coach Varga has a record of 186-155-32 in his 18 seasons as a head coach. He was previously the head coach at Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee.
The Jags were 8-10-3 this season and hosted the Sun Belt Conference soccer championship tournament at The Cage on campus. The Jags, a #7 seed in the eight team tournament, were eliminated in the first round by Middle Tennessee State.
“Mike has been a loyal and trustworthy member of the University and Jaguar Athletics,” Erdmann said. “We deeply appreciate his service and wish him the best in all future endeavors.”
“We will conduct a national search beginning immediately,” he continued. “The search is wide open and and we will pursue the best-qualified candidate for our program.”
South Alabama Soccer Falls In First Round Of SBC Championship
The Lady Jags fell to Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday night at The Cage in the first round of the Sun Belt Championship tournament. But they did not go down without a fight.
Being down 2-0, junior forward Linsey Snavely cut the lead in half with 13 minutes left in the match but could not find another goal to even the match before time ran out.
MTSU opened the match with seven unanswered shots on goal and three corner kicks before they were able to put one in the net. The first goal was a 40 yard shot that the USA Goalkeeper could not get her hands on.
In the 63rd minute, they doubled their lead.
“Going down two goals made it tough for us,” said USA head coach Mike Varga. “The first goal was a great shot, You have to take your hat off for that finish. We turned the ball over and gave them an open chance on the second goal, but we kept fighting.”
“I’m proud of the girls for continuing to fight back and getting that goal back, but it’s disappointing to end the season like this.”
The Jags fell to MTSU by the same score in Tennessee on October 14. Going into the match the Blue Raiders were ranked third in the nation in goals per game (3.12).
After a day off the tournament will continue on Friday with #1 seed North Texas taking on #4 seed Western Kentucky at 4pm. Then at 7pm #2 seeded MTSU faces #3 seeded FIU. The winners of those two games will face each other on Sunday for the Sun Belt Championship.
SBC Soccer Tournament Opens Play Today At USA
The Sun Belt Soccer Championships begin today on the campus of South Alabama at The Cage. This is the fifth time USA has hosted the tournament and the first time since 2007.
Four matches will be played today with #1 North Texas vs #8 FAU opening up play at 10am, then #4 WKU vs #5 Arkansas State at 1pm, #3 FIU vs #6 Troy at 4pm. The fourth and final match of the opening day will be the #7 seed South Alabama Jagaurs looking to knock off the #2 seed Middle Tennessee State Blue Raider.
In their previous match against MTSU earlier this season the Jags came out with a 2-1 loss.
South Alabama To Host Sun Belt Soccer Championships This Week
The Sun Belt Conference released the seeding for the upcoming soccer championships that will be hosted by the University of South Alabama that begin this week. The championships will run from Wednesday through Sunday at The Cage.
Florida International, Middle Tennessee State and North Texas were each crowned 2012 Sun Belt Conference regular season champions on Friday after each team finished the year with 25 points. It is the first time in the conference’s history that they have crowned three schools as champions.
North Texas earned the top seed in the tournament by winning the three-team tiebreaker over MTSU and FIU. North Texas tied FIU and defeated MTSU giving the Mean Green four points. While MTSU defeated FIU and lost to North Texas for three points. FIU earned one point for tying with North Texas.
South Alabama is a seven seed and will face the #2 seed MTSU at 7pm on Wednesday. South Alabama, being the tournament’s host, was allowed to choose it’s quarterfinal match time.
Here are the seedings of the eight teams that will compete this week.
- North Texas (13-4-2, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Middle Tennessee State (13-4-1, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Florida International (11-5-2, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Western Kentucky (11-4-3, 6-1-3 SBC)
- Arkansas State (11-7-1, 5-4-1 SBC)
- Troy (9-9-2, 4-5-1 SBC)
- South Alabama (8-9-3, 3-5-2 SBC)
- Florida Atlantic (5-12, 3-7 SBC)
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Match 1: 10AM – #1 UNT vs #8 FAU
Match 2: 1PM – #4 WKU vs #5 Arkansas State
Match 3: 4PM – #3 FIU vs #6 Troy
Match 4: 7PM – #2 MTSU vs #7 South Alabama
Friday Nov. 2:
Match 5: 4PM – Match 5 Winner vs Match 2 Winner
Match 6: 7PM – Match 3 Winner vs Match 4 Winner
Sunday Nov 4:
Championship Match: 1PM Match 5 Winner vs Match 6 Winner