Sunday, September 18
RIO HARDY SCORES TWICE, SOCCER BLANKS GEORGIA SOUTHERN
MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama junior Rio Hardy (Workington, England) tallied a brace and the Jaguar soccer team opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 5-0 shutout of Georgia Southern Sunday at The Cage.
The Jags win their fourth in a row – all by shutout – to improve to 6-2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Eagles fall to 3-4-1 and 0-2.
"It was a good performance," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "Defensively, we were solid from front to back and it was important that we maintained a high level there; we didn't take our foot off the pedal after a good game in Mississippi last weekend. Offensively I thought we showed a lot of patience today. We weren't just taking shots from anywhere, we were trying to create good, quality chances and fortunately today we were able to put a few of them away."
Hardy scored her team-leading fourth and fifth goals of the season in the second half. She headed in a cross from sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) at 49:26 to put the Jaguars up 3-0, then put home a loose ball just outside the 6-yard box in the 59th minute.
"She played very well and did a great job," Winkworth said. "The front three worked well together and they're improving their understanding of their movements. I'm glad that all three of them managed to get on the scoresheet and Rio grabbed a couple, so I'm pleased for her."
Junior Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) opened the scoring early, converting a throughball from junior Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) in the 14th minute. Junior Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio) doubled the lead at 27:27 when a Georgia Southern clearance went straight to her just outside the penalty area, and her low shot got past the GS goalkeeper.
The final touches on the victory came at 68:22 from junior Chelsea Followwell (Sachse, Texas).
"I've heard a few people say that we're not scoring that many goals, but when you play Ole Miss, Auburn, Samford and Florida State, you're not going to win 5-0," Winkworth said. "We've been playing well going forward in games, but today we were able to tire the opposition out; they had a game on Thursday and we didn't, so we had that extra rest. Fortunately our ball movement enabled us to create some good, quality chances."
South Alabama outshot Georgia Southern 25-2 on the contest, and put 12 attempts on net. The Eagles didn't register a shot until the 58th minute.
"We moved the ball around well, we managed some decent crosses in, got on the end of a few, and we were patient," Winkworth noted. "Defensively we were solid once again and limited their opportunities to a few long-range efforts."
Freshman Justice Stanford (The Colony, Texas) made her fourth straight start in goal and made two saves. Emily Flinn went 71 minutes for GS and made six stops while allowing all five goals.
The Jags return to the road next week, going to Arkansas State on Friday and Little Rock on Sunday.
Chants Net Three Goals in Shutout over Appalachian State
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's soccer team recorded its second straight shutout of the weekend with a 3-0 victory versus Appalachian State Sunday afternoon at the CCU Soccer Stadium.
With the win, Coastal improves to 5-3-1, 2-0 in the Sun Belt, while App State falls to 3-4-0 (0-2). Coastal has now scored two or more goals in three straight games and have not lost a match scoring two or more goals this season. Chanticleer keeper Morgan Divine earned her second straight shutout victory, making three saves in the 90 minutes of play.
Three different Chanticleers accounted for the team's goals and the Chants held an 18-9 shot advantage over the Mountaineers. Seven of Coastal's shots were on frame to the Mountaineers' three.
The Chanticleers applied pressure early in the first half as they recorded two shots and three corner kicks in the first five minutes.
In the seventh minute, freshman defender Ambria Shutts sent the ball into the box off a corner kick to a waiting Sam Patterson. Patterson headed the ball past Appalachian State goalkeeper Sam Steyl's outstretched hands, placing the ball in the far right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Coastal wasted little time in doubling its advantage as Amber Adams scored seven minutes later. The senior was played a ball over the Mountaineer back line and she controlled the ball to go 1-v-1 with the goaltender. Adams hammered it home to give the Chanticleers a 2-nil lead.
Appalachian State did not record a shot until the 15th minute of the match and did not mount many threatening opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
Play began to settle down at the start of the second half with Coastal handling most of the offensive possession. The Chants fired three shots in the first 12 minutes of the second half but all just missed the frame of the goal.
After an aggressive battle in the midfield, a cross from Shutts was sent into the box and found Famili's head but the initial headed shot was saved. However, the Mountaineer goalie bobbled the ball and Famili took advantage of the loose ball by finding the back of the net to secure the eventual 3-0 final score.
The Mountaineers could not generate any offense in the final third of the pitch in the second half only and Coastal's Divine was forced to make just one save.
Trojans Notch First Sun Belt Win at UL Lafayette
LAFAYETTE, La. – Arola Aparicio got a goal in the 12th minute, Sara Small made seven saves and the Little Rock soccer team came away with a 1-0 victory over Louisiana on Sunday afternoon.
The Trojans (6-4-0, 1-1-0 Sun Belt) picked up their first win against Louisiana (4-5-1, 0-1-1) since 2011.
Aparicio struck early on, as a long back from Sairra Tucker bounced into the penalty area. Aparicio got there first and dribbled the ball to the right of Cajuns keeper Cosette Morche, who had come up to make a play on the pass from Tucker. With a little space, Aparicio poked the ball into the open net to give the Trojans their 1-0 lead.
Little Rock had great opportunities throughout the game, including a crossbar hit by Shannon Shields with 10 seconds left in the first half and another struck by Caitlyn Eddy in the second half.
The defensive play of the game may have come from Hali Long, who cleared a ball off the line in the 55th minute to keep the Trojans in the lead. Besides Long's crucial clearance, Small picked up a season-high seven saves to earn the win and her third shutout of the year.
All told, the Trojans had a slight 16-13 edge in total shots and an 8-7 edge in shots on goal. The teams each took six corner kicks. Long, Samantha Rolka, Mikayla Uyokpeyi and Small each played the full 90 minutes.
Next up for Little Rock will be a trip back to Louisiana on Friday as the team takes on ULM. Kickoff for that game is set for 4 p.m.
Bobcats Comeback from Early Deficit to Beat Panthers 3-1
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's soccer team overcame an early deficit Sunday afternoon to defeat Georgia State 3-1 in Sun Belt Conference play at the Bobcat Soccer Complex.
The Bobcats improved to 5-4-1 overall and 2-0-0 in conference action while the Panthers fall to 3-3-3 and 0-1-1 in the SBC. This is the third straight season that Texas State has won its first two conference matches of the season.
GSU opened the scoring late in the 14th minute that began with Rebecca Copeland sending a long past over the Bobcats' defensive line. Caitlin Ray was able to outrace the TXST players to the ball and turned inside for a shot that squeezed past the right post and Heather Martin for a goal.
A little over 11 minutes later, Alyssa Phelan sent a quick pass into the box to Kassi Hormuth, who took two dribbles before sending the ball towards goal. Clarissa Leon got her toe on the ball to flick it past the goalkeeper's left to tie the game 1-1. For Leon, it was her team leading third goal of the season.
Kelly Barbalias put a hard shot at goal from distance in the 33rd minute. However, GSU's goalkeeper pushed the ball wide for a corner kick. A second opportunity was in the 40th minute when Jordan Kondikoff took a crack at goal but the ball deflected off a defender and right into the keeper's hands.
Early in the 72nd minute, Jamie Brown sent in Texas State's third straight corner kick. The ball caromed off a Panther and to the feet of Phelan. She unleashed a close shot that deflected off the goalkeeper. Kondikoff was right there to put in the rebound to give the Bobcats a 2-1 advantage.
Hormuth was taking on a defender in the early portion of the 83 minute and able to get enough room to send in a cross. The ball failed to find a Bobcat because it landed in the upper left portion of the goal to give Texas State a two-goal lead.
The Panthers had an opportunity to cut their deficit to one with less than two minutes left on the clock. Alexis Thomas received a long pass and unleashed a shot, but Genesis Turman got her body in front of the ball to blocked the attempt on goal. Anglade Taina uncorked a shot off the rebound that saw the ball sail wide left of the goal.
Texas State ended the game with a 16-9 advantage in shots and put 10 on its attempts on goal compared to three for the visitors. Kondikoff led all players with four shots, placing three on goal. Hormuth followed with three shots while both Lauren Prater and Brooke Ramsey took two shots apiece.
Phelan set a new career-high today with two assists. Tying her career best with three points was Hormuth.
Martin made two saves on the day in her third consecutive start. The freshman finished her first SBC weekend with nine saves and a .900 save percentage.
The Bobcats play the first of three straight games on the road on Friday at Appalachian State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT.
Troy Finishes Level With Arkansas State, 1-1
TROY, Alabama – The Troy soccer team poured 25 shots on Arkansas State, but could find the net just once as the teams finished in a 1-1 draw after two overtimes at the Troy Soccer Complex on Sunday.
Senior Nicole Harris scored her first career goal just 19 seconds into the second half. Abby Reynolds crossed the ball from the right wing where it found Harris just a few feet from goal. The Miami native, chested the ball into the net for the score.
Arkansas State (2-3-3, 0-1-1 SBC) equalized in the 65th minute after the Trojans failed to completely clear a corner kick. The ball was headed back into the six-yard box, where Jacqueline Greer finished for the Red Wolves.
STAT OF THE GAME
Troy took 25 shots in the contest, a season-high, and the most since attempting 30 in a 3-2 win over Alabama State last season. The Trojans put 11 of their shots on target and also took 11 corners. Conversely, Arkansas State mustered just three total shots in the 110 minutes of action.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't deserve to win that game, whatsoever," head coach Jason Hamilton said.
"I'm a little disappointed in our team. It's a Sunday game and if you don't work hard and aren't willing to work hard, then you can't win. You're at home in a conference game that you should win and we're just going through the motions. Just disappointed in that aspect of things, hopefully they can figure it out sooner rather than later."
UP NEXT
Troy (5-4-2, 1-0-1) has seven day until its next match. UL Lafayette visits the Troy Soccer Complex on Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.