Box Score
FOLEY, Ala. - Top-seeded South Alabama advanced to its fourth consecutive Sun Belt Women's Soccer Championship final with a commanding 6-0 win over No. 4 Appalachian State in Friday's semifinal at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Ala.
The win advances the Jaguars (14-5-1) to Sunday's finale at 1 p.m. (CT) where they will take on second-seeded Coastal Carolina, which defeated Little Rock in an earlier semifinal. The Jaguars defeated the Chanticleers, 4-1, during the regular season.
Should the Jaguars claim the title on Sunday they would become just the second team in league history to claim four consecutive women's soccer championship titles. Should the Chanticleers win, it would be the first title for CCU in their very first year in the Sun Belt.
USA got five assists in the contest, as five different Jaguars scored on the night. Jemma Purfield opened the scoring early on in the matches 20th-minute on an assist from Chelsea Followell. The goal was Purfield's ninth of the season.
USA picked up a second goal just four minutes later as Chardé Hannah threatened from the right side, pulling the App State keeper towards Hannah who shifted the ball further right before kicking to the left side of the goal. An App defender tried to kick the ball away from the goal but it caromed off the right post and back into the net for an App State own goal and a 2-0 Jaguar lead.
Ashlynn Jones gave the Jaguars a 3-0 lead in the 27th-minute as she picked up her sixth score of the season off an assist from Alexis Jordan who dribbled through the right side.
Hannah picked up her fourth goal of the season late in the first-half as she got behind the Mountaineer back-line to give the Jaguars a 4-0 lead with just 20 seconds remaining in the half.
Hannah Godfrey scored on a header just seven minutes into the second-half as the Jaguars stretched the lead to 5-0. Rio Hardy ended the scoring for the Jaguars as she gave USA a 6-0 lead in the 77th-minute for her eighth goal of the season.
The six goals scored for the Jaguars were a season-high for USA and was the second time they've scored five or more goals in the championship in successive years as they scored seven in the opener last year.
Justice Stanford picked up the win for the Jags and improved to 12-3-0 on the season and earned her 10th shutout and USA's 11th of the season.
With the loss Appalachian State falls to 10-8-2. The Mountaineers finished with 13 shots, seven on goal but were unable to find the back of the net. Jane Cline led the way with four shots, two on goal. USA finished with 19 shots, nine on goal, led by Followell who tallied four shots.