MOBILE, Ala. – Coming off a pair of wins in Troy, Ala., the University of South Alabama soccer team will take on Mississippi State and top-ranked Florida State starting Friday at The Cage.

The Jaguars will face Mississippi State Friday night at 7 p.m. and Florida State on Monday at 5 p.m. Both games will be shown live on JagNationTV and fans can also follow the action via live stats on USAJaguars.com.

"It's very exciting. Last time we were at home we were playing the best team in the Southern Conference and the No. 12 team in the nation (Auburn); this weekend we've got an SEC opponent in Mississippi State and the No. 1 team in the nation," said USA head coach Graham Winkworth. "It's exciting for me as a coach, my players, my staff, the fans, the school and community as a whole to have such prestigious names play here in Mobile. Hopefully we'll have a good attendance because of it."

South Alabama bounced back from a scoreless opening weekend to put up seven goals combined in wins over Jacksonville State (4-1) and Belmont (3-1). Both junior Rio Hardy (Workington, England) and sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) recorded a pair of goals, with Hardy scoring a brace against Jacksonville State.

The Jags outshot their two opponents 19-12 and compiled a .613 shot-on-goal percentage.

"We should be full of confidence; we've got goals coming from all areas of the field – the back line, midfielders and forwards – which is something we pride ourselves on," Winkworth noted. "Defensively we've been solid; we had a couple of minor lapses last weekend, but if we can switch on and perform defensively the way we did opening weekend, then hopefully we can have another strong weekend."

USA has won all three meetings with Mississippi State by a combined 6-2 since Winkworth was hired prior to the 2013 season, but the Bulldogs have more wins since the start of the 2015 campaign (7) than the previous two years combined (6).

MaKayla Waldner has a pair of goals in seven attempts for MSU, and McKenzie Adams has a team-best two assists.

"Mississippi State are underrated, they play in a strong conference, are a good team and are well coached," Winkworth said. "They're very athletic, probably more athletic than we are. They play a different style of soccer to what we're used to seeing, but it's effective for them, so you have to respect that."

South Alabama has met Florida State in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, with the Seminoles winning all three by the same 5-0 score. Monday will mark the fourth straight time the two teams have faced off with FSU ranked in the top two in the nation.

"What will be difficult to prepare for this week is that we go from playing one team that is extremely direct, to one that plays a very beautiful game of soccer; you have to admire that," Winkworth said. "Florida State are in my mind, the best-coached program in the country. Coach (Mark) Krikorian does a fantastic job and I have a lot of respect for him because he comes from a Division II and low-major background, and now he's a national champion. "He brought in some very talented American players and then he boosts his squad with top internationals, like Deyna Castellanos, who was the youth player of the year a few years ago. When you add Megan Connolly, who was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and national freshman of the year to that, that's a very exciting attacking part of the field they've got."

The Seminoles have won their first three contests of the year – all on the road – by a combined 7-0, including a 1-0 shutout of No. 8 Texas A&M in the season opener. Castellanos has a team-best three goals, with two of those being match winners.

"We've tried a whole host of different things against them in the past and we'll try something again on Monday," Winkworth said. "If it's effective, then great. We feel like we've got different cogs to our team than we've had in the past. The difference is, we have players with a professional mentality this year that believe that they can, on any given day, compete with Florida State. In the past, I think we've been beaten before kickoff; this year is different in that I feel that we've got players in the team, and a coaching staff, that truly believe if we show up, we can give anybody a game, and that includes Florida State.

"It'll be nice to play here, having a crowd in front of us. It'll be at 5 p.m. on a Monday, which will be different for us. We've earned the respect of teams like Florida State that they want to come and play here. That's not just a credit to our team, that's a credit to our administration for putting together a facility that teams will play on, because Florida State will not go to play on some local park. Our facilities are nice and they're looking forward to coming here, I know."

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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