MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama soccer team will attempt to become the first team since 2009 to win three straight Sun Belt Conference Tournament titles when the Jaguars travel to Atlanta and take on Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round Wednesday.

The Jaguars and Ragin' Cajuns will kick off at 1 p.m. Due to heavy rain in the Atlanta area, the tournament has been moved to the LakePoint Sporting Community in Emerson, Ga.

"We're excited," USA head coach Graham Winkworth. "We took a couple of days off after the regular season and the girls were hungry to get back on the field, which is always a good sign. We're getting healthy; we've been missing a lot of key players for large sections of the regular season. They've either been playing unhealthy or not at all. The squad is getting healthy, we're looking sharp, scoring goals and excited to get going on the next part of the season."

USA will bring its 10-game win streak – tied for third longest in Division I – into the tournament, and the Jags have not lost to a league opponent since 2012, a span of 26 games.

"It's good because we go into games full of confidence and expecting a positive result," Winkworth said. "We respect every opponent and we will continue to do that as we go into the tournament, but we are also confident in our own ability and that shows with the style of soccer we've tried to implement here. Hopefully it can continue this week in Georgia."

South Alabama closed the regular season with a flurry of goals, scoring nine total in wins over Little Rock (5-0) and Arkansas State (4-1). The team's two-game total is its most since pumping in 11 early last October.

Sophomore Steffi Hardy (Workington, England) recorded her first career hat trick against Arkansas State en route to player-of-the-week honors from the Sun Belt, and sophomores Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio) and Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) added two goals each.

Freshman Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) dished out three assists, including two vs. Arkansas State.

"We were missing a couple of key players in recent weeks in Chardé (Hannah) and Ashlynn," Winkworth noted. "Everybody else has stepped up during that period to continue to help us get positive results, but when you add that quality back into the team, that quality adds competition and everyone upped their level again and we created some excellent goals and chances in the last two games. Having those two back, and looking sharp in practice as well, is very exciting going into what is a very important week."

Wednesday will mark the first tournament meeting between the two schools. The last two regular-season matchups have been tight affairs, with a 4-4 draw in Mobile in 2014 and a 2-1 double-overtime Jaguar victory on Oct. 2 in Lafayette.

"They're a good team," Winkworth said. "They play soccer the right way and it should be an entertaining match because we are two teams that like to play attractive soccer with the ball on the ground. There have been goals in the last few meetings between us. They're well-organized defensively and they've got goals in their team as well. We're expecting a very tough challenge."

The Cajuns are winless in their last four outings and finished the regular season 1-6-1 after earning a victory over Georgia Southern in their league opener. Annika Schmidt leads the team and ranks in the conference's top 10 in both goals (6) and points (14).

"The Sun Belt is a very tight conference and teams are capable of beating one another," Winkworth said. "We're certainly going to show them the utmost respect because it was a good game last time we played. They've played some tight matches; they only lost by a goal in each of their last two games."

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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