MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama soccer team closes out the 2010 season Friday night in Sun Belt Conference action against Troy at The cage. USA will honor its seniors, Kasey Crowe and Liz Clark, before the match as a part of Senior Night.
USA (5-13-1, 3-7) enters Friday’s match after splitting its matches last weekend. The Jags fell to MTSU 1-0 on Thursday at The Cage, and shutout Western Kentucky 2-0 on Sunday in Bowling Green, Ky. Sunday’s win was the Jags first victory over the Hilltoppers since 2005, and the fourth shutout against WKU in school-history.
“Unfortunately Friday is the end of our season,” Jaguar head coach Mike Varga said. “We plan to go in to the off-season with the memory of playing our best soccer at the end of this season.
“We still have a lot to play for. We are playing against our conference rival and we want our two seniors to go out on a positive note. Kasey Crowe and Liz Clark have meant a lot to this program and they have been leaders for our young team this year. I am proud to have coached them and am sure they will represent our program well as they move on to the next phase of their lives. “
The Jags are tied for first in the SBC in saves during conference games with UALR. USA has totaled 73 saves in 10 league matches for an average of 7.30 saves per contest.
Freshman goalkeeper Melissa Drish enters in the match ranked second in single-season saves (124) and tied for second in single-games saves (16) at South Alabama. Drish is eight saves shy of ranking fifth on the career-saves list at USA.
Brandi Smith continues to climb the career goals list at USA. Smith enters Friday’s match with 24 career goals, ranking her fifth in career goals in school-history.
USA enters the final game of the Sun Belt Conference regular season ranked fourth in the league in assists (27) and assists per game (1.42). The Jags are ranked fifth in points (77), seventh in goals (25) and eighth in goals per game (1.32). Defensively, the Jaguars are 10th in goals allowed, and have a goals against average of 1.91 ranking them 11th.
Linsey Snavely ranks in the top five in the conference in assists (4) and assists per game (.44).
“Troy is an excellent team. In my opinion, they are a couple breaks from being in the top three in the conference. They have as good a shot as anyone in winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament next week, so we will have to be at our best. We have proven when we play with focus and intensity we can compete with anyone and we will need to be ready to play a full 90 minutes on Friday.”
Troy (10-7-1, 5-5) enters this weekend after defeating Western Kentucky 2-1 on Friday, and falling to Middle Tennessee 1-0 on Sunday. The Trojans are led by Ruth Sutcliffe, who has a team-leading eight goals and seven assists.
The Jaguars are 3-2-1 all-time against the Trojans and are 2-0-1 when playing Troy at The Cage. Last season the Jags fell to Troy 1-0 at the Trojan Soccer Complex.
—USA—
