MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama soccer team will get two chances to hone their skills before the official start of the 2016 season with a pair of friendlies, beginning Thursday night at The Cage.

The Jaguars will welcome Southern Miss Thursday at 7 p.m. and Alabama-Birmingham Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.

"We're looking forward to it," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "We know Southern Miss and UAB are good teams, but for me, preseason games are not about results, they're about getting match fitness, trying out a few things and getting our lineup ready for opening day. That first game we'll field everybody and give them a chance to stake a claim for the opening weekend."

The exhibition Thursday comes just over a week after the team reported for preseason training. The Jaguars spent the days leading up to the contest in Foley, Ala. on a team retreat. Foley will be the site of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

"We're not going to be on the same field, as there's some construction going on around there, but we'll see the facility at least and have a chance to use some of the same restaurants and stay in the same hotel," Winkworth said. "We'll get comfortable with our surroundings so when we make the conference tournament, we can already be mentally prepared going into what will be an important week."

USM went 5-11-3 last season but returns leading goalscorer Kiersten Bradley, who had five as a freshman. The Golden Eagles are coached by former assistant Mohammed El-Zare.

South Alabama leads the series 10-4 and has won the last five meetings, with the last two coming by a combined 10-0 score.

UAB posted a 2-14-1 record a season ago and ended the year with five straight losses. The Blazers return seven starters and 14 letterwinners, but lose leading scorer Kasey Johnson.

"We're going to try a few different systems," Winkworth said. "We really want to start to stamp our style of play into them and take pride in that style of play. We'll be evaluating the players both as a group and individually on their performances over the next week or so, rather than how we perform results-wise. We have just over a week until the results really matter."

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).

—USA—