TROY, Ala. – University of South Alabama senior Rio Hardy scored a pair of goals, including the match winner in double overtime to give the Jaguars a 2-1 victory at Troy Sunday afternoon at the Troy Soccer complex.

The Jags go to 7-4-1 overall and 5-0 in the Sun Belt Conference, and remain unbeaten in their last eight outings. The Trojans fall to 4-8-2 and 2-3.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama recorded the first five shots of the contest, but none of them hit the target
-Troy opened the scoring at 23:09 after Maddie Bruce put home a ball that rebounded off the post
-It took less than two minutes for the Jaguars to answer – Rio Hardy took a throw-in from freshman Deanna Green, turned on her defender and beat the Troy goalkeeper in the upper-right corner at 25:06
-The only two shots on net in the first half for both teams were goals
-Troy rattled the crossbar on a header off a corner kick at 70:12 but it stayed out, and a follow-up attempt went over
-Hardy tried to break the deadlock but her shot at 75:57 was kept out thanks to a diving save from Troy's Haleigh Mercer
-Senior Tiina Trutsi was one-on-one with Mercer at 87:44 but both of her shots were saved
-Hardy had a free kick from 25 yards out six minutes into the first overtime, but Mercer answered the call again, going to the ground to make the save
-Troy's Lauren Aldrich had a short-range header at 97:53 but it went straight to USA goalkeeper Justice Stanford
-Sophomore Kory Dixon fed Trutsi into space, but Trutsi's attempt went off the left post and Hardy roofed the loose ball from about four yards out to end the contest
-USA outshot Troy 17-9 on the afternoon, including 4-1 in the two extra frames
-Stanford made two saves for the Jags, and Mercer made six stops while allowing one goal for the Trojans
-Hardy, Trutsi and senior Danielle Henley combined for 14 of the team's 17 shots, and all eight of the Jags' shots on goal

NOTES
-Today was the first overtime game in the series since 2012 – Troy was 2-0 in OT games prior to today
-Hardy has matched her season goal total from 2016 with eight, and is four shy of her career high of 12 set in 2014
-Hardy has five goals in her last three games – that's her highest three-game goal total of her career
-Hardy recorded her third brace of the season, and seventh of her career
-USA is 5-0 in Sun Belt play for the second time in school history (2015)
-The Jaguars are 34-5-2 in conference games in the last four seasons
-The last 13 games in the series have been decided one goal or fewer – it was the sixth time during that span the scoreline was 2-1
-USA is 4-3 in one-goal games this season after starting the year 0-3
-Hardy is currently tied for second with teammate Chardé Hannah in school history with 11 career game-winning goals and 35 career goals
-Hardy also moved into fourth at South Alabama in career points (83)
-The Jaguars failed to score first for just the second time in the last 10 contests, but the team has outshot the opposition nine times in that same time period
-South Alabama is 2-0-1 in overtime this season after going 0-3-1 a season ago

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
On USA getting a win over its rival: "It's a great feeling and I'm sure it feels familiar for these girls. It feels great to win in the league again, but we talked to them after the game and said it was good that we played such a tough schedule on the front end. When we had tired legs and it looked like couldn't go anymore, we still had something left in the tank and they were struggling. I think playing the strength of schedule that we did, worked out in our favor for those games that demanded that little extra."

On having to rally for the first time in a while: "We knew what they were going to do. Obviously we weren't able to prevent them – we got caught switching off on a set piece, so for us to jump right back at them was massive for us.  It was good that we had an answer."

On Rio's performance: "She was brilliant – I think it was a big response. She must have read the article from Friday night saying we want more consistency from her. She's got goals individually and we've got goals for her as well collectively. She wants to be a double-digit scorer. After we lost a double-digit scorer, we asked the team, where are the goals going to come from? I tell Rio all the time, it's not how many goals you can score, it's how many games you can score in. For her to score on Friday and do it again on Sunday, that's why she's here. She's clinical when she gets her chances. The first one she made a chance out of nothing. If she can keep the consistency week in and week out, I think she's going to be a top contender for offensive player of the year in the conference."

On getting another road win: "We could have played an easy schedule on the front end – my record could have been a little better and the girls might have had more motivation going into the game, but we never lost track of what we were going for. We want to win the conference and go to the national tournament – all of those things are still achievable, even losing those games at the beginning. But the experience we gained and the lessons we got, I think that's what's helping us now. Going into these games we knew we hadn't won on the road and we told them that we have to pick up the points this weekend and do something we hadn't done all year. You create competition for this group and they'll respond. Everyone is pitching in and helping. It was just a great team effort all around this weekend getting the job done."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars return home next Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest against Little Rock.

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).

Join the Upper 90 Club, the soccer specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All gifts to the Upper 90 Club go directly to support the South Alabama soccer program.  For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/upper90

—USA—