MOBILE, Ala. – Eager to repeat their success of last year, the University of South Alabama women's soccer team took the field for first time Wednesday at The Cage in preparation for the 2015 campaign.

All 23 players—including seven All-Sun Belt Conference honorees from 2014—participated in drills and scrimmages allowing head coach Graham Winkworth and his staff to evaluate the team at this early stage of the season.

"You're going to see a lot of similar stuff—we've got a deeper squad, we've got a more talented squad, we're slightly fitter than we were last year and the competition for places is higher, but even though we're still pretty young, we have a veteran squad in the fact that we return so many quality players," Winkworth said. "We should be slightly higher level-wise than we were this time last year.

"We have some very good personalities, and to be honest, I'm watching the new girls settle in day one. They've got some very fun personalities and with these older girls being so welcoming, I don't think team chemistry is going to be a problem here at all. I think we're going to have a very close-knit team who are very talented. We look forward to hopefully challenging at the right end of the table again."

The Jaguars are looking to repeat as Sun Belt champions and make their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Included in the seven all-conference returnees are SBC Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) and Defensive Player of the Year Nini Rabsatt-Smith (Montgomery, Ala.).

Winkworth will get a more detailed look at his squad Saturday night during the annual Red/White Game. The intrasquad contest, featuring teams helmed by assistant coaches Jo Chubb and Keyton Wheelock, starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

"We'd like to invite any members of the public, students, anyone, to come see us," Winkworth said. "We won't be the finished article on Saturday, but we like to have this Red/White game as a little competition between Coach Chubb and Coach Keyton and create a little bit of a rivalry within the department. It's fun."

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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