South Alabama vs. Murray State • Aug. 27, 2017 • 1 p.m. • The Cage (690) • Mobile, Ala.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 0-2 (1st year)
Overall Record: 48-40-7 (6th year)
Murray State
Jeremy Groves (Kentucky, 2005)
Record at MSU: 36-19-4 (4th year)
Overall Record: Same
SERIES INFORMATION
Murray State leads 2-1.
Current winning streak: South Alabama, 1 win
MSU's last win in series: 1-0 OT (9-6-12) in Murray
Last meeting: South Alabama 2, Murray State 0 (9/13/13)
USA's record at home: 1-0
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 2
Notes: The first game between the two schools was in 2005 at the Skyhawk Invitational in Martin, Tenn. … Both of Murray State's wins — 2-1 (2ot) in 2005 and 1-0 (ot) in 2012 — came in overtime.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Video
JagNation TV: http://usajaguars.com/showcase?Live=966
Live stats
http://statb.us/b/181038
THIS WEEKEND'S GAME
Chelsea Followwell's goal at Florida State was the ninth of her career and first since Sept. 18, 2016 against Georgia Southern. She had seven goals total in her freshman and sophomore seasons.
Followwell has three of the team's five shots on goal this season.
South Alabama is 0-2 to start a season for the first time since 2010.
Murray State is the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion, and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2015.
The Racers are 27-3-3 in OVC play in three seasons under head coach Jeremy Groves.
MSU is one of two conference champions on this year's schedule (FSU, ACC Tournament).
USA is 15-8-4 against current members of the OVC and has won five in a row, dating back to a 1-0 loss to Murray State in 2012.
MOODIE QUOTES ON THE WEEKEND
On what he took from the opening weekend: "It was a good insight into the level of play that's out there. Are we upset with the results? Of course we are. We want to win those games. Are we ready to win those games? Maybe, yes. We've got the quality in the individuals but early on in the season we're still trying to get the hang of it. A win or a tie in one of those games might have been a fair result for us because I think we have a good team. We still have a lot to learn. We're young and it's early in the season. We've come back stronger and better, and now we must prepare for Murray State at home."
On the bright spots from the two losses: "One, we scored the first goal of the season, and it came through disciplined effort and a great strike from Chelsea Followwell. We've seen some great individual performances. We left last weekend knowing what does and doesn't work, what needs to improve and where we can become better. The positive is, going in to the weekend we had a feeling that we knew the girls that we could count on when faced with adversity, and we left that weekend knowing that we have a good group of kids. Every single one of them played for 90 minutes; that game against Auburn could have been 5- or 6-0 if we had thrown in the towel. Instead, we worked hard and had pride. Even against Florida State, to go down 2-0 and come back and win the second half, that never-say-die attitude is something that is difficult to instill in your players. There are a lot of teams that came out of the weekend 0-2 that didn't play as difficult of a schedule as we did, but they might not being going into practice with the same level of intensity that we will."
On what he wants to work on for Sunday: "Against an Auburn or a Florida State, you go into those games maybe a little more defensive minded and catch them on the counter. This week, we have to focus on being us now and being an attack-minded team. We weren't playing the way we wanted to; we were playing for results. This week we're going to get on the field and try to be the best team we can for Sunday. We want to score some goals and look dangerous going forward. We did against good competition, but this week we have to find ourselves again and get refocused."
On Murray State: "They're obviously a great team with their history in the OVC. That's a team that we're not taking lightly. I don't think they're as good as a Florida State or Auburn, but it's anybody's day. They're a good team and we respect that, but we want to make sure that we prepare and have a go at them. We have to come in and be willing to put forth the same effort that we did last weekend and be ready to play for 90 minutes. The Cage is a great environment; we hope the fans come out and support us. We hope to put on a good show and play hard for the home crowd."
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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