MOBILE, Ala. – Riding the wave of a seven-match win streak, the University of South Alabama soccer team hosts Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette at The Cage this weekend.
The Jaguars and Warhawks (7-4-1, 1-1 SBC) will kick off Friday night at 7 p.m. and the Jags and Ragin' Cajuns will start Sunday at 1 p.m.
Live stats for both matches will be available on USAJaguars.com and Twitter updates will be provided as well at @SouthAlabamaSoc.
The Jags won their Sun Belt Conference opener 2-1 Friday against Troy after scoring two early goals and holding off the Trojans late to improve to 9-2 overall. South Alabama is 1-0 in the league for the first time since 2011.
"I feel good about our team," said USA head coach Graham Winkworth. "We only have nine returning players from last year, so we have so many young players and we started six freshmen in a huge conference game. For such an inexperienced team, who don't understand the importance of conference games and playing an in-state rival, for them to get up for a game like that was unbelievable and I'm really proud of the girls."
USA's current seven-match run ties the program's longest since 2005. The Jags have outscored the opposition 29-3 during the streak with five shutouts.
Offensively, three different players have scored five goals or more in the last seven games, with freshman Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) leading the pack with eight, including three match winners. Freshman Sophie Haywood (Hull, England) has found the net six times with freshman Rio Hardy (Workington, England) adding five.
Junior Sarah Hay (Waxahachie, Texas) has been in net for 450 minutes in the last seven games and has allowed just one goal for a 0.20 goals against average, with 24 saves.
"The girls are very professional; we just take one game at a time," Winkworth said. "We prepare hard for every single team and we respect every single opponent. The girls have done a good job of making sure that they're not getting complacent. I'm really pleased with their attitudes and we need to continue to maintain those high standards."
Friday's opponent enters the match having won three out of its last four outings, including a 2-1 come-from-behind home win over Georgia State that saw ULM score twice in less than two minutes to defeat the Panthers. The Warhawks started the year with four straight victories, then went winless in their next four games before their most recent success.
ULM leads the nation in assists and has two in the conference's top five. Karla Fehr leads the Sun Belt with .67 per contest, which ranks 15th in Division I.
"They're a good team," Winkworth stated. "They have 20 returning players so they're an experienced team. We have a lot to prepare for. They're very well coached; Roberto (Mazza) has done a good job over there. He came in and made a lot of changes, and his team is jelling and playing well. We're expecting a very difficult game."
Louisiana-Lafayette (5-5-1, 0-2 SBC) dropped a pair of 2-1 home decisions last weekend to Georgia Southern and Georgia State and enter Friday's match at Troy winless in the league. The Jags and Cajuns tied for second in the Sun Belt last season.
Danielle DeRosa leads Louisiana-Lafayette with seven goals and 16 points but was held scoreless in her first two SBC matches with one shot on goal.
"I'm a little surprised by (their 0-2 start) in one way because they're an extremely strong team, but they've also played two very good teams in the two Georgia schools," Winkworth noted. "Those are a couple of games that could have gone either way; both of them were very close matches. They're probably a little unfortunate to find themselves 0-2. They were one of my picks to finish near the top of the conference. They're another team that returned a lot of players (17) from last year. They have a lot of attacking threats and the defensive player of the year as well. They're a huge opponent so it will be an extremely difficult game on Sunday. We're in for a tough weekend."
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).
—USA—
SOCCER PUTS STREAK ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND
