MONROE, La. – A late first-half goal from University of South Alabama sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) was all the Jaguars needed in a 1-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Friday afternoon at the ULM Soccer Complex.

The Jags extend their win and shutout streak to seven, and go to 9-2-1 overall and 4-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Warhawks have their four-match win streak snapped and fall to 6-5-1 and 3-1.

"First of all, I thought Louisiana-Monroe defended very well and worked extremely hard," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "How they played – they sat every player inside their own half – is a compliment to the way we're playing. We had to find ways to break them down; fortunately, we were working all week on this and managed to create more chances from open play. We hit the woodwork three times and scored a goal from open play, getting the ball out wide and putting crosses in. Despite their congestion in one half of the pitch, we were a lot more creative than we've been, particularly in the second half."

Friday marked South Alabama's sixth 1-0 win in its last seven outings. USA also improves to 14-0 all-time against ULM.

The goal was Purfield's second in the last three games – and fourth overall, second on the team – and both were game winners. It came at 41:23 off a pass from freshman Alexis Jordan (Mesquite, Texas).

"Jemma did a great job," Winkworth said. "We've been trying to get players to attack crosses, and when we've got one fullback getting on the end of another fullback's cross, it means we're being allowed to attack with numbers. It's great to have one fullback cross to the other one. I'm just glad she was able to continue her streak of playing well."

South Alabama dominated play, recording 19 shots and putting 12 of those on net. Three more hit the woodwork as juniors Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) and Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio) did it twice and once, respectively.

Three of Jones' four shots were on frame, while Purfield had three of her team-high shots hit the target.

"We've worked on our combination play and our movement," Winkworth noted. "We tweaked a few things positionally and we were maintaining possession and we were patient. The chances we created were good; that's why 12 of 19 were on target and three more hitting the bar. That means only four of them went past the end line.

"We're obviously looking much more dangerous in the final third of the field. It's just a workrate thing; we've got to be prepared to move for one another, and some of our combination play in the final third was much better, particularly in the early stages of the second half."

Defensively, the Jags held the Warhawks to just five shots and three on target. Freshman Justice Stanford (The Colony, Texas), who lowered her season goals against average to 0.12 in eight starts, recorded her seventh clean sheet of the year.

"When teams sit back so deep, our backline really doesn't have much to do," Winkworth noted. "Yes, it's great we're keeping shutouts, but we're not going to score six goals on everybody when everyone is playing so deep. The great thing is, we're still managing to find a way and we're still creating lots of good chances. Somebody will get hurt badly if teams continue to do that against us, but because so many players are behind the ball for the opposition, they don't have any numbers attacking. As great as it is to keep clean sheets, and we pride ourselves on them, we've not been very busy defensively and most of the work that our defenders are doing right now, is actually attacking."

The Jaguars have Sunday off but will start a four-match homestand on Oct. 7 against in-state rival Troy.

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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