Sunday, October 18
Jags Edge Eagles, Claim Share of SBC Regular Season Title
STATESBORO, Ga. – A penalty kick from sophomore Rio Hardy (Workington, England) late in the second half was just enough as the University of South Alabama soccer team got past Georgia Southern 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The win, combined with Troy's loss to Georgia State, guarantees the Jaguars at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference title. A win or draw in either of USA's last two games would clinch the outright crown.
"I'm really proud of the team; it's been a very eventful season, in the fact that we've manage to beat very good teams, and challenge some of the teams in the top 10, so to win the title with two games to go shows how hard the team has been working," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "As much as we want to enjoy that moment, we still have two very important games left in the regular season, plus the conference tournament.
"I'm not someone that sits back and enjoys this moment right now; at the end of the season, we'll evaluate how the year's gone and hopefully we'll be pleased with the work that we've done, but I'm really proud for the girls right now."
The Jaguars' win streak increases to eight and the team has won its last 16 against Sun Belt Conference opponents; the team currently holds a 13-2-1 overall record and a 7-0 mark in league play. The Eagles drop to 6-8-2 and 3-3-1.
"It's a bit of a cliché, but it was a tale of two halves," Winkworth said. "In the first half, we were very much in control of the game. We were not clinical and didn't put all of the shots that we were creating on frame. We could've been two or three up at halftime, but we failed to hit the target enough.
"In the second half we came out and felt good about it. We were reduced to 10 players and that changed the game completely. The girls fought for the remainder of the game and Rio won the game for us. I'm really proud of how the girls dug in despite the circumstances."
The two squads battled to a scoreless draw through the first 78 minutes until Hardy was brought down in the box by the GS goalkeeper. Hardy converted from the spot for the first time this season at 78:45 to give the Jags the only goal they would need.
"We emphasize to the girls that it's a 90-minute game and it's important that we play for 90 minutes," Winkworth noted. "On Friday night, it wasn't the second half that was the problem; we didn't play particularly well in the first half. We just have to make sure we're as focused at the beginning of games as we seem to be at the end of them right now. It's a credit to the team that we continue to battle out results late in matches."
South Alabama, who went the final 42 minutes with 10 players, controlled the first half with a 12-3 advantage in shots, but Georgia Southern attempted 11 in the second half compared to USA's six, including six of the last seven of the contest.
"That decision to reduce us to 10 players completely changed the context of the game, and made it far less attractive to watch," Winkworth said. "We have to play slightly differently when we're down a player. Credit to the girls – they fought and battled, and it wasn't about playing attractive soccer anymore, it was about grinding out a result, and to do that when you're down a player is phenomenal. I'm really proud of them."
After Hardy's penalty, GS managed to get off three shots in the final eight minutes, but did not find the target.
South Alabama goalkeeper Sarah Hay (Waxahachie, Texas) recorded five saves for her second straight clean sheet and fifth of the season. Her counterpart, Emily Egan, also made five stops.
"Our backline has been phenomenal all weekend," Winkworth said. "I can't single any one of them out. They've been absolutely fantastic all weekend and I can't praise them enough. We have defended extremely well from front to back all weekend, but special credit does need to be given to our back four and our goalkeeper. They deserve two shutouts because they've been phenomenal all weekend.
"If you're not conceding goals, then you're not losing any games."
The Jaguars return home for the final weekend of the season, starting Friday night at 7 p.m. against Little Rock.
Tully's Late Header Gives Appalachian State a 2-1 Win
LAFAYETTE, La. — Appalachian State University women’s soccer picked up its second Sun Belt Conference win of the weekend when in defeated UL Lafayette, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Cajun Soccer Complex.
The Mountaineers (8-5-3, 4-2-1 Sun Belt) got off to a quick start against the Ragin’ Cajuns (8-8-2, 2-5-1 Sun Belt) when Jane Cline (Cornelius, N.C./Charlotte Catholic) scored on the Apps very first shot of the match. Cline fired a shot into the right corner of the goal past the Cajun goalkeeper.
The goal was Cline’s third of the weekend after scoring two goals on Friday night versus UL Monroe and seventh of Cline’s season. Cline now leads the team with 15 points on the year.
UL Lafayette was able to level the score just minutes before the halftime whistle. The Ragin’ Cajuns were awarded a penalty kick in the 41st minute. Yazmin Montoya scored her first goal of the season from the penalty spot.
Coming out of the break tied 1-1, both schools had chances to score the go-ahead goal. UL Lafayette tallied nine shots to Appalachian’s 11 after being out shot by App State 13 to 2 in the first half.
With less than five minutes left in regulation the match seemed to be headed to overtime. App State won a corner kick in the 85th minute. Jenni Loveless (Fayetteville, Ga./Whitewater) played the ball into the box. Lindsey Tully (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Catholic) was able to get on the end of Loveless’ cross and headed it past Lindsey Stocks for the game-winning goal.
The goal was the first of the season for Tully and the second game winner of her career. The assist was the first of the year for Loveless.
Appalachian now has 13 Sun Belt Conference points with two home conference matches left on the schedule. The Apps return home on Friday Oct. 23 to face long-time rival Georgia Southern. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
Panthers Earn Double-Overtime Win over Troy
ATLANTA- Georgia State breaks a three-game losing streak in double overtime on Senior Day. Junior Suzanne Arafa had the game-winning goal with three minutes left in the second overtime, her seventh goal of the season.
After going into the half trailing the Trojans 1-0, senior Ashley Nagy headed the ball into the goal to tie the game. Nagy had an assist by sophomore Kylie Ruffule on her fifth goal of the season.
Nagy’s goal gave the team offensive momentum, allowing them to outshoot Troy 17-12 in the game. GSU had 11 shots to Troy’s five in the final three periods.
With an assist from freshman Caitlin Ray, Arafa put the ball in the net to give the Panthers a win over second-ranked Troy. This was Arafa’s first game-winning goal of the season.
Seven Troy saves, three in both the second period and the second overtime, kept the Panthers score at two. The team had nine shots on goal, for a .529 shot on goal percentage.
Arafa led the team in shots with seven, and Nagy coming in a close second with six. Four other Panthers each had one shot.
“We played a great team in Troy and we have been unfortunate in not getting results in the past couple of games. Today’s win was crucial to pick up those three points to help us out in seeding, as well as lifting the team’s confidence and spirits after these last few weeks. Getting the win in overtime puts us in a great position heading into two tough road games and the upcoming conference tournament,” head coach Derek Leader said of the game.
Georgia State heads to Texas State and Appalachian State this weekend before hosting the conference tournament Nov 4-8.
Texas State Soccer Earns 10th Victory With Shutout Over UL Monroe
MONROE, La. – Lynsey Curry’s team-leading ninth goal of the season lifted the Texas State soccer team to a 1-0 victory over UL Monroe Sunday afternoon. Curry scored her second game-winning goal of the season in the 23rd minute of the contest to lift Texas State to 10-5 overall and 4-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Curry’s third goal of the weekend amounted to her seventh during conference play, the most by any player in the SBC. She was assisted by Lauren Prater after a pass through a set of UL Monroe defenders and scored in the lower left corner.
The Texas State offense was on point Sunday as 10 of the team’s 12 shots resulted on goal, forcing nine saves by the ULM goalkeeper. Curry led all Bobcats with four shots while Kassi Hormuth finished with two for the ‘Cats.
Senior goalkeeper Caitlynn Rinehart finished the match with three saves en route to her fifth shutout of the 2015 season. The shutout for Texas State was the first one of the 2015 conference season and first since September 18 against New Mexico State.
The 10th victory for the Bobcats marks the 10th one in the 17-year history of the program.
Texas State will now return home for the final two regular season matches of the season. Friday night’s contest, which marks the Pink Out Game for Texas State, will feature the Georgia State Panthers while Sunday’s Senior Day will be against Georgia Southern. Kick-off against the Panthers Friday evening is scheduled for 7 p.m.