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EMERSON, Ga. – The University of South Alabama saw two leads slip away during regulation, but sophomore Sarah Hay (Waxahachie, Texas) made a stop in the 11th round of penalty kicks to put the Jaguars in the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Women's Soccer Tournament over Appalachian State Friday night at LakePoint Sporting Community.

The top-seeded Jaguars (16-2-2) advance to the finals for the third consecutive season and will play No. 6 seed Georgia State – who got past Troy on penalty kicks – Sunday at noon CST. That game can be seen on ESPN3.com.

"I'm really pleased that we managed to find a way through to the next round, which is a characteristic the girls have shown all season long – they've managed to find a way, but our performance wasn't up to scratch today," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "We need to make sure we do a better job on Sunday in the final.

"Despite not playing our best soccer though, we still managed to hit the bar, had a couple saved off the line and had a goal disallowed, so we created chances but they didn't fall for us. At the same time, we managed to do that and not play our best soccer, so I'm encouraged knowing that there's more to come from us."

The match officially goes down as a 2-2 draw, ending South Alabama's 11-match win streak, but the team's 13-match unbeaten streak is still alive.

There were only two misses in the shootout before Hay's final save, and both came in the early stages. App State's Kate Ward was denied by Hay in the second round, but sophomore Chelsea Followwell's attempted was stopped by Megan Roberson in the fourth to even things up.

The two teams combined for 14 straight conversions; the final one from freshman Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) put the Jaguars up 10-9, setting up Hay's late heroics.

"That was the save of the game," Winkworth said. "It was a good penalty – it wasn't a badly taken penalty – and she just went the right way, took a good dive and put it around the post. That is a moment she'll remember for the rest of her life. I'm really happy for her."

Jag fans were certainly flashing back to the 2013 semifinals when USA moved on over Arkansas State 6-5 on penalties en route to the program's first tournament title.

The match was sent into extra time on a late Mountaineer goal. A cross from the byline by Jane Cline was parried by Hay, who was unable to corral it. Sam Childress beat Hay to the ball and punched it in at 88:02.

"We've got to do a better job of managing the game," Winkworth noted. "With two minutes to go, we're making poor decisions at the back, whether we're playing short when it should've gone long, or not putting it out of play and trying to do too much out of the back. When there's two minutes to go, you have to make quality decisions to manage the game well.

"We'll talk about it, but to be honest, these girls have done so much for us all season, they're all entitled to a mistake now and again. We'll brush that off and think about all of the positives that they've done today."

The two teams combined for just three attempts in the extra 20 minutes. USA sophomore Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) just missed a golden goal in the 98th minute when her shot went off the crossbar.

Hannah didn't miss in the 25th minute when sophomore Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio) took control of an Appalachian State goal kick and quickly fed Hannah, who muscled her way past the defender and beat the goalkeeper low.

The Mountaineers responded just over 7 ½ minutes later on a free kick from Ward in the upper left corner, and the sides went into halftime knotted at 1-1.

Sophomore Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) looked to have won the game for South Alabama at 60:32. A header from senior Nini Rabsatt-Smith (Montgomery, Ala.) was saved off the line, but the rebound went straight to Henley who volleyed it home.

App managed just two shots in the next 27 minutes before Childress came to the rescue.

South Alabama won the shots battle 23-8, including 22-6 in regulation, but only got eight on frame, compared to four for Appalachian State.

"It was opposite of the other day (in the quarterfinals), because we weren't clinical in front of goal," Winkworth said. "We should have put them away early in the game. The fact that it was tied at halftime, that wasn't a fair reflection of the first half. We didn't take our chances and we didn't put them away; we came in at halftime disappointed to be level. But like I told the girls, we were the team on the ascendency trying to win the match, and that positive attitude will be rewarded."

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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