South Alabama vs. Appalachian State • Sept. 15, 2017 • 7 p.m. • The Cage (690) • Mobile, Ala.
South Alabama vs. Louisiana-Monroe • Sept. 17, 2017 • 1 p.m. • The Cage (690) • Mobile, Ala.
THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 2-4-1 (1st year)
Overall Record: 50-42-8 (6th year)
Appalachian St.
Sarah Strickland (George Mason, 1998)
Record at App: 58-64-20 (8th year)
Overall Record: Same
UL Monroe
Keyton Wheelock (Concordia-St. Paul , 2008)
Record at ULM: 7-16-4 (2nd year)
Overall Record: Same
SERIES INFORMATION
App: South Alabama leads 3-1-1.
Current winning streak: USA, 1 win
App State's last win in series: 4-3 (10/23/16) in Boone
Last meeting: South Alabama 6, Appalachian State 0 (11/4/16)
USA's record at home: 1-0
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 2 / 1
Notes: The schools split two meetings last year, with App State edging out South Alabama 4-3 in double overtime in Boone, and the Jaguars getting revenge with a 6-0 victory in the Sun Belt Tournament… The previous meeting in the Sun Belt Tournament ended in a 2-2 tie, with the Jags advancing 10-9 on penalty kicks.
ULM: South Alabama leads 14-0.
Current winning streak: South Alabama, 14 wins
ULM's last win in series: N/A
Last meeting: South Alabama 1, Louisiana-Monroe 0 (9/30/16)
USA's record at home: 7-0
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 14 / 0
Notes: South Alabama has won two games in overtime… The Jags have scored 10 goals in the last two meetings in Mobile… Three straight games (2005-07) ended with 1-0 USA victories.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Video
App: http://usajaguars.com/showcase?Live=970
ULM: http://statb.us/b/181044
Live stats
App: http://usajaguars.com/showcase?Live=971
ULM: http://statb.us/b/181045
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
Friday marks the commencement of the Sun Belt Conference schedule, where the Jaguars are 29-5-2 in the last four seasons.
South Alabama has allowed just two goals in its last three games after permitting nine in its first four.
After going scoreless in her first five games, Ana Helmert has scored two goals with an assist in her last two. She assisted on Danielle Henley's goal Sunday at Mississippi State.
USA is averaging 3.0 goals in five games against Appalachian State, with a high of six in last year's Sun Belt Tournament.
The last two meetings with Louisiana-Monroe have been one-goal affairs. The 2015 game in Monroe went into double overtime.
South Alabama has scored multiple goals six times in the last seven games vs. ULM. The lone exception was last year's 1-0 Jaguar win.
Hannah Godfrey was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.
The Jaguars have scored first in each of the last five games.
Sunday marked the first time a USA opponent had accumulated more shots since Florida State on Aug. 20, a span of four games.
Last year's 6-0 Jaguar win in the SBC Tournament was the biggest shutout victory in USA's postseason history, and tied the biggest margin of victory.
Appalachian State was winless in its first six matches before defeating Davidson 3-2 on Sept. 7 behind a brace from Ava Dawson.
Louisiana-Monroe, coached by former South Alabama assistant Keyton Wheelock, earned its first point of the season Sunday with a 1-1 draw at Southeastern Louisiana.
MOODIE QUOTES ON THE WEEKEND
On opening up Sun Belt play: "I'm excited about going into conference play, and I'm excited to meet the coaches in the conference and watch the level of play in the league. Everyone in the conference has played a good schedule and has had some good showings. I think it'll make for an interesting year. We're excited and ready; we're undefeated three games on the bounce and we've had some good results. We had a solid performance on Sunday and we carved open an SEC team. If we can do that against America's best, then I'm sure we can do that within our conference."
On if this is what he expected out of the team: "I've still yet to see the 11 starters I wanted at the beginning of the season. Will we ever? I don't know, but what I do know is we have 11 girls coming out of the last week and a half that have really stepped up and shown what they mean to this team. Is it the team that I thought would've played? No. Is it to the expectation and the standard? We're getting there, but I still think this team has more. We showed on Sunday the type of team we can be when we've got the ball and not got the ball. The SEC Network was very complimentary of our shape when we didn't have the ball, and how disciplined we were. If you actually watched the game and didn't look at the stats, we created real chances."
On preparing for Appalachian State: "We get lucky because we play them here. Appalachian State is a hard place to go to. I've not played there, but we played at their facility and it's maybe tighter and narrower, so defensively it allows them to be a bit more organized. For us, playing at home is a huge advantage. They've had some unlucky results. They've had some good performances and bad performances, so I would compare them to us in a lot of ways. To be a conference champion, you need to win your games at home, so that has to be the primary focus."
On Louisiana-Monroe: "They are struggling a little bit, but what we don't know is what's going on behind the scenes. We haven't seen our best 11 yet, so injuries and suspensions creep in so you just don't know what's going on with other teams. You still have to show up and beat them. People take it for granted that you're going to win this game or that game. The most frustrating game I've been a part of as a coach was a team we should have beat. We outshot them like 58-1 and we tied 0-0. So you still have to show up and get the job done. We're confident going into every game based off how we're coming out of our non-conference schedule. We stayed with the big teams, found a way to win games and score goals, and everybody is chipping in. Mentally we're in good shape. No disrespect to other teams, but our focus is going to be on us and what we've got to do to show up and play, and we'll see if other teams can stop us."
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—
