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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama soccer team got a hat trick from sophomore Steffi Hardy (Workington, England) and closed out an unblemished Sun Belt Conference season with a 4-1 win over Arkansas State Sunday afternoon at The Cage.

The Jaguars improved to 9-0 to complete the league's first perfect season since Denver went 11-0 in 2010, and is now 15-2-1 overall. The Red Wolves fall to 3-14-1 and 1-7-1.

"It's always difficult to play on Senior Day because there's so much emotion going on," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "Performance-wise, we know we can play a lot better than that, but we got the result and I'm really proud of how the team got through the game. I'm pleased for the seniors that got to have Senior Day on a winning day.

"I couldn't be happier. We've swept the league now and we did it for the seniors today; fantastic stuff."

Hardy's hat trick, the second by a Jaguar this season, is the first in her career. She got her initial goal at the 14:17 mark when she headed in a corner kick from freshman Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England), then put South Alabama up 3-1 early in the second half when she roofed a pass from sophomore Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio).

Purfield connected with Hardy's head again with 3:10 left in the contest on a cross to complete the three-goal performance.

"We talk about her defending all the time because she's a fantastic defender, but she got her noggin on a few today and got herself a hat trick," Winkworth said.

Purfield has three assists and five points in her last two outings, and her eight helpers lead the team and rank tied for second in the conference.

"Jemma's been fantastic; what an addition that was, and the fact that she's got three more years after this is exciting for us," Winkworth said. "She keeps assisting and chipping in with some goals from the defender position. I think she's got a definite opportunity, depending on how the other coaches vote, for freshman of the year for sure.

Arkansas State snapped South Alabama's shutout streak of 356:42 late in the first half with a headed goal from a corner kick, but it took just over a minute for the Jags to answer. Sophomore Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) fed sophomore Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) behind the defense to create a 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, and Henley beat her for her sixth goal of the year.

The Jaguars won the shots battle 21-8 and put 15 of those attempts on net. Hardy and senior Jordan Duncan (Bay St. Louis, Miss.) each had three shots on goal.

"No disrespect to Arkansas State, but I felt like we should have been leading a lot more at halftime," Winkworth noted. "We were not clinical in front of goal; we know we've got a lot to work on before the tournament, and we're going to do that because we've got to respect our next opponent, whoever that may be."

Junior Sarah Hay (Waxahachie, Texas) had five saves in net for USA. ASU's Kelsey Ponder made 11 stops and allowed three of the four goals.

South Alabama will be the No. 1 seed in next week's Sun Belt Tournament, held Nov. 4-8 in Atlanta, Ga. Its first-round opponent will be announced later in the week.

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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