MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama seniors Rio and Steffi Hardy scored a goal apiece to lead the Jaguars to a 2-1 victory Sunday against Georgia State at The Cage.

The Jaguars win for the third straight game and are unbeaten in their last five outings to improve to 5-4-1 and 3-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers fall to 3-7-1 and 1-3.

GAME FACTS
-It took less than a minute for the Jags to get on the board – Steffi headed home a corner kick from freshman Ana Helmert 48 seconds into the contest
-Rio doubled the advantage at the 22:55 mark after she hit a loose ball first time at the top of the 18-yard box into the left corner
-Sophomore Kory Dixon just missed adding another to USA's lead at 27:33 but her attempt from the right wing just grazed the left post
-Sophomore Brianna Morris forced GSU goalkeeper Brie Haynes to make two saves late in the first half – Morris got her head on a cross that went right to Haynes at 35:54, then forced Haynes to make a leaping save at 41:10
-The Jaguars held a 13-3 advantage in shots at halftime and put eight of those attempts on net
-Haynes stopped a breakaway from Rio six minutes into the second half
-The Panthers made it a one-goal game with 14 minutes left when Isabelle Guest volleyed home a corner kick from Ashley Thomas that deflected off the hands of USA goalkeeper Justice Stanford
-Georgia State tested Stanford three times in the last 11 minutes, but only one shot hit the target
-Stanford made four saves, Haynes had 10 stops

NOTES
-The Hardys scored in the same game for the fifth time in their career – it happened once in 2016 and three times in 2014
-Rio currently leads the team with four goals
-South Alabama led by multiple goals at halftime for the first time this season
-USA is 3-0 in Sun Belt play for the third straight season, and the third time in school history
-The Jaguars are 32-5-2 in conference games since the start of the 2014 season
-Rio broke a tie with Rebecca Kahn for third place at South Alabama in career game-winning goals with 10
-South Alabama has scored first and outshot its opponent seven times in the last eight games
-Georgia State snapped a five-game scoreless streak against South Alabama that dated back to the 2013 campaign

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
On getting off to a good start: "That was a dream start, right? When you're at home and you get that first goal within 50 seconds… I would have loved to have seen the opportunity that created the corner go in, but we scored off the fast play from us that started the game. That's how you want to play – high intensity in the first 5-10 minutes and put them on the back foot. I think we sent a message early. We needed that early start because they played Friday and we hadn't. It certainly set the tempo for the game."

On how he thought the team played: "That was one of our best first-half performances. I thought we moved the ball really well. In the second half we struggled with the depth. We need some able bodies back in the squad. In the second half it looked sloppy, it looked like every Sunday game that we've played. We need to learn from it. Had we kept the ball a little better, we wouldn't have made it as difficult on ourselves."

On Rio's goal: "That was a great finish. I thought it was a great performance for her today. She worked so hard in every other aspect even when we didn't have the ball. When she did get through on goal in the second half, she wasn't able to do it – heavy legs. She was fantastic today – I thought she was one of our best players. We've worked in practice on our movement into the final third, so we hoped to score a goal in the run of play. It wasn't the best goal we could've scored in the run of play, but we were picking away at it and we've definitely seen a lot of progress from practice. Hopefully the best has yet to come for this team."

On the defense's performance: "That's a tough one for the back four because you want them to get a clean sheet and they're so close every game. There's something missing there a little bit, but it's something for us to work on in practice and see how we can tighten it up. It was a nervy last 14 minutes, but it didn't have to be if we had put the game away. In the first half I thought we could have put the game away and we talked to them at halftime about that."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars go on the road next week, starting with a clash at Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. CDT.

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—