MOBILE, Ala. – Arkansas State scored 55 seconds after halftime and held on to defeat the University of South Alabama soccer team 1-0 Friday night on a soggy pitch at The Cage.

The Jags have their eight-match unbeaten streak snapped and fall to 7-5-1 overall and 5-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves improve to 8-5-1 and 4-3-1.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama held a 16-5 advantage in shots before halftime, but could only put five of those on net and never seriously tested A-State goalkeeper Kelsey Ponder
-Arkansas State took advantage of a defensive miscue in the box and Hailey Furio put home the loose ball at 45:55
-The Jags had two chances in the 69th minute to tie but Ponder came up huge to retain the lead – senior Chelsea Followwell's attempt from the deep left wing was punched out, and junior Hannah Godfrey's shot was also saved
-Senior Chardé Hannah hit the crossbar at 84:48, and senior Rio Hardy's attempt a few seconds later was saved by Ponder
-South Alabama recorded the last 12 shots of the contest, with six hitting the target and Hannah hitting the bar
-USA outshot A-State 33-9 on the night, and held a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal
-Ponder finished with 13 saves, tied for the most by a goalkeeper in the Sun Belt this season
-USA's Justice Stanford had four stops

NOTES
-The game was delayed 2:17 due to a major rainstorm before kickoff
-Friday was South Alabama's first game since Oct. 1 after their Oct. 8 contest vs. Little Rock was cancelled due to Hurricane Nate
-Hannah made her first appearance since Sept. 13 at Mississippi State
-Arkansas State defeated South Alabama for the first time overall since 2010, for the first time ever in Mobile (1-8-1) and improved to 3-13-3 in the series
-The Jaguars' 33 shots and 13 shots on goal are both their second-highest totals of the season
-USA dropped to 17-3 in its last 20 games decided by a 1-0 scoreline
-South Alabama was shut out for the second time this season, and the first time since the season opener at Auburn
-The Jags have outshot their opponent 10 times in their last 11 outings
-USA had its four-game win streak in one-goal matches snapped
-The Jaguars are 34-6-2 in conference games in the last four seasons

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
On getting the field ready to play: "The man of the match was the South Alabama soccer parents. This game very likely could not have been played, and if it wasn't for them coming out and doing all the work that they did in the field tonight, I don't know that we'd have been able to get this game in. Big shout out to the parents and everyone involved for helping."

On the loss: "It wasn't the result we wanted, but I thought it wasn't a bad performance. We were chipping away at it, but we lacked that quality in the final third. It's a little frustrating, but you'd be more frustrated I think if you weren't creating chances. We've got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and we have to go again on Sunday."

On Arkansas State's goal: "I didn't count one shot that they had that was threatening, and we had a blunder, one of the worst moments in the game. You've got a center back holding off a center forward, and a goalkeeper coming and everyone's unsure. It shouldn't look like that, not at this level, and not with the caliber of the team we have at South Alabama. We'll give them credit where it's due; they kept working hard, they scored early in the second half and they didn't concede after that. Defensively, I thought we were good all night, they didn't pose any threats and we had a lot of the ball in the first half. If you can't score chances, you give teams hope, and the longer they can hold on, the more hope they get. We should've learned that lesson earlier, but here we are still dealing with it today."

On not being able to convert their chances: "It was that moment of quality in the final third. We talk about it in practice every week – that one moment of quality. You get the ball wide, you want to cross it but nobody's in the box. Should you cross it? No, turn out and keep the ball. There were moments we were shooting when we could have drove. There were two or three times we got our wingers on the ball and had good runs taking their center backs into the channel and the field opened up. Instead of us driving through the middle and trying to get in the box finish, we're shooting from 25 yards and there's still acres in front of us. Just the decision making in the final third for this team is a struggle, but you can see us getting better and better each game. I thought we deserved at least a goal."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars travel to Coastal Carolina Sunday for a noon CDT kick off.

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

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