South Alabama vs. Little Rock • Oct. 8, 2017 • 1 p.m. • The Cage (690) • Mobile, Ala.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 7-4-1 (1st year)
Overall Record: 55-42-8 (6th year)
Little Rock
Adrian Blewitt (Lock Haven, 1994)
Record at LR: 41-42-9 (5th year)
Overall Record: 111-70-19 (9th year)
SERIES INFORMATION
South Alabama leads 17-5-1.
Current winning streak: USA, 7 wins
LR's last win in series: 3-2 (10/17/10) in Little Rock
Last meeting: South Alabama 1, Little Rock 0 (9/25/16)
USA's record at home: 11-2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 7 / 2
Notes: South Alabama has outscored Little Rock 23-3 in its current seven-match win streak… USA's 9-0 win in 2012 is the program's largest Sun Belt victory… The Jaguars and Trojans have played every season since 1994 except 1998 and 1999… South Alabama's 17 wins vs. Little Rock are its most against any opponent.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Video
LR: http://www.usajaguars.com/showcase?Live=973
Live stats
LR: http://statb.us/b/181047
THIS WEEKEND'S GAME
In Sun Belt games, South Alabama is the top scoring team in the league (2.20 gpg) and second in goals against average (0.56).
The Jaguars have outshot their opponent nine times in their last 10 games.
With the win at Troy on Sunday, USA is 2-0-1 in overtime games this season (2-0 in Sun Belt play). Last year, the Jags went 0-3-1 in extra time.
South Alabama's five-game win streak and eight-match unbeaten streak are the longest in the Sun Belt.
The Jaguars are 5-0 in the Sun Belt for the second time in school history (2015).
USA is 4-3 in one-goal games this season after starting the year 0-3
The Jaguars are 34-5-2 in conference games in the last four seasons
Rio Hardy leads the conference in goals per game (0.67) and is second in points per contest (1.42).
Hardy has moved into a tie for second in school history with 11 game-winning goals and 35 goals in her career.
Hardy is also tied for fourth at South Alabama in career points (83).
Hardy's five goals in the last three games tie the most by a USA player in a three-game stretch in the last four years (Charde Hannah, 2014).
Hardy has matched her season goal total from 2016 with eight, and is four shy of her career high of 12 set in 2014
Hardy has recorded three braces this season, and seven in her career
Little Rock is 0-5 on the road this year.
In four conference games, the Trojans and their opponents have combined for a league-low six goals. However, Little Rock leads the SBC in goals per game overall (1.77) and has scored three goals or more four times.
MOODIE'S QUOTES ON THE WEEKEND
On returning home Sunday: "It's a good game against tough competition. Little Rock are behind in the conference because they've played a game less than everybody else, so I know they'll want to come in here and try to pick up a result. But like us going into last weekend, we hadn't won on the road and we picked up six points. They too, have not won on the road yet, so they have a tough trip ahead of them."
On how team responded on first Sun Belt road trip: "(They responded) as well as we would have hoped. I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect them to come out and want to win those games. Georgia Southern, in the back of our mind, we knew we could win. The weather didn't help us any, but it wasn't an easy game, by any means. The girls came out, responded in the second half and we got the job done. Against our biggest rivals, Troy, on Sunday, I thought we looked good. There was no doubt in our mind that we weren't going to go out on the road without coming back with some points, and to take all six was fantastic."
On the offense coming around: "When we prepare each week, we talk about what do we need to work on this week. When we were playing Florida State, it was maybe we need to be more defensive minded and we'll work, on a 2-to-1 ratio, more on defense. Now that we're in the conference, we're wide open. Now we're looking at it as a 2-to-1 offensive ratio. That's not to say we're not going to be doing a lot of defending – we've been challenged so much by the top teams in the country, we feel like we can play a little more open. Looking at last weekend, I think we could've done a better job in that respect, getting a hold of the ball and playing a little bit more. That's a product of how we've been training, more offensively as a team, and the girls' scoring is a product of them putting extra work in outside of practice, like Briana Morris and Rio Hardy. They're constantly out on our fields working when training is done. They send a good message to the team that it's not luck they're scoring goals."
On Little Rock: "They're a great team and they're well coached. There's a former player of mine on that team as well. We treat everyone with respect and we know they'll be a good team. For us, the goal is simple: we need to show up and win. Little Rock on the road is a very different conversation than Little Rock here. This is a tough place to play and the girls take a lot of pride in playing at home. Sunday is a SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) event so hopefully the students will come out and get behind the girls. I think for us, the biggest question is, can we maintain what we've been doing? I think that will be the biggest challenge for us on Sunday."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Upper 90 Club, the soccer specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All gifts to the Upper 90 Club go directly to support the South Alabama soccer program. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/upper90
—USA—
