MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama soccer team will wrap up the road portion of its schedule this weekend with trips to Georgia State and Georgia Southern.

The Jaguars will attempt to keep their six-game win streak alive with a 6 p.m. CST start Friday at Georgia State and a noon CST kick Sunday at Georgia Southern.

South Alabama's run continued last weekend with a 3-0 win over Appalachian State – its first clean sheet over a league opponent this season – and a 2-1 victory against Texas State.

"On Friday, we were phenomenal and for 70 of the 90 minutes we were fantastic," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "I was really pleased with not only the result, but the performance as well; those two often go hand in hand.

"Sunday we came out and I don't know if the girls thought Texas State were going to be easier than Appalachian State because they had gotten beat by Appalachian State the week before quite heavily, but we didn't come out with lots of energy. We addressed that at halftime and they came out flying in the second half."

The Jaguars' streak is tied for fifth-longest in the nation and the team's 14 straight wins against Sun Belt opponents are the most in Division I. This has been a huge factor in the program's most recent RPI ranking of No. 24, the highest in program history.

"Hopefully we'll be ranked at this point in about three weeks from now because we'll have an excellent opportunity to not only be in the NCAA Tournament, but also potentially host, which would be huge for this institution," Winkworth said.

"If you look at the names of the teams surrounding us in the RPI, we're only six places behind a team that's won the national championship 22 times in North Carolina. For us to be in the same conversation as teams like that, it's phenomenal and a true credit to the girls for not only doing it this year, but the speed in which we've done it; we've basically improved 200 places in 2 ½ years. I always knew we could get there, I'm just very happy in the rate in which we've gotten to that point."

South Alabama has scored multiple goals in each of its last six wins and averages 2.4 goals in league matches, best in the Sun Belt. Nine different players have found the net during the conference season.

"I think it's a lot more balanced than it's been in the past," Winkworth noted. "Last year, Chardé (Hannah) scored a bunch of goals, but she's been out injured for part of the season, and when she's in the game, people are getting extremely physical with her. What that means, is it's opening up opportunities for other players. We're well-balanced because we're scoring goals from all areas of the field. We're dangerous on set pieces, we've been scoring goals from defenders and midfielders, and our forwards are chipping in goals too. It makes us more difficult to prepare for and hopefully that continues. I want our forwards to continue to score goals, but it's nice that our midfield players can continue to score too because that's something we always want."

After an 8-1-2 start overall, and a 2-0 mark in league play, Georgia State is 0-2-1 in its last three outings, with back-to-back losses to Little Rock (3-0) and Georgia Southern (4-3).

"They are a very good team, and one we struggled to break down last season," Winkworth said. "They're very well organized. Coach (Derek) Leader does an excellent job with them and it's going to be a huge challenge.

"In a way, I'm happy we're playing there because it will give us an opportunity to see where the conference tournament is being played this year, but at the same time, it's very difficult to pick up results on the road, just like we found out in the first three games of the conference season. In this league, winning on the road is extremely hard, so we're going to have to work twice as hard this week and hopefully come out with a lot of energy and match Georgia State's workrate and put on a good performance."

Georgia Southern has scored three goals or more in three of its last four games, including seven in its last two in wins over Arkansas State (3-1) and Georgia State. The Eagles boast the top two goal scorers in the Sun Belt in Nora El-Shami and Jennifer Wittick. El-Shami had a hat trick and an assist vs. GSU, while Wittick had a brace at Arkansas State.

"They're a very dangerous team," Winkworth said. "El-Shami is one of the best players in the league; she's very composed on the ball, she's good in the air and has an excellent set-piece delivery. She can play up top or in the midfield and she's an excellent player. I have a lot of respect for her. Wittick is a dangerous player up top and has clearly been chipping in with a lot of goals this season. Coach (Brian) Dunleavy has only been there a short time and has done an excellent job too in building Georgia Southern's RPI and last season finished 74th. Georgia State outshot them last weekend, but Georgia Southern came away with the result.

"Both of these opponents deserve the utmost respect. Last weekend proved to be one of the toughest weekends of the season, and I think this weekend will be no different, especially since we'll be on the road."

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).

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