South Alabama vs. Southeastern Louisiana • Sept. 7, 2017 • 7 p.m. • The Cage (690) • Mobile, Ala.
South Alabama at Mississippi State • Sept. 10, 2017 • 1 p.m. • MSU Soccer Field (500) • Starkville, Miss.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 1-4 (1st year)
Overall Record: 49-42-7 (6th year)

SE Louisiana
Christopher McBride (Martin Methodist, 2001)
Record at SELU: 2-3 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same

Mississippi State
Tom Anagnost (Kalamazoo, 1995)
Record at MSU: 5-0 (1st year)
Overall Record: 69-29-12 (6th year)

SERIES INFORMATION
SELU: South Alabama leads 5-1-1.

Current winning streak: None
USA's last win in series: 2-1 (10-16/05) in Hammond
Last meeting: South Alabama 1, Southeastern La. 1 (9/23/07)
USA's record at home: 2-1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 5 / 1
Notes: South Alabama won the first five matches in the series before going winless in the last two… The two teams haven't met since 2007… The first game between the two schools was a 10-0 USA victory in 1995… The Jags won the first three games by a combined score of 18-0.

MSU: Mississippi State leads 7-5.

Current winning streak: Mississippi State, 1 win
USA's last win in series: 1-0 (8/21/15) in Starkville
Last meeting: Mississippi State 2, South Alabama 1 2OT (9/2/16)
USA's record on the road: 3-3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 3 / 5
Notes: Mississippi State snapped a three-game losing streak in the series last year in Mobile… Last year's game was the second to go into double overtime — the first came in 2001… The Bulldogs outscored the Jaguars 15-1 in a five-match win streak from 2003-2012.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Video
SELU: http://usajaguars.com/showcase?Live=969
MSU: http://es.pn/2eZ7FNg
Live stats
SELU: http://statb.us/b/181040
MSU: http://statb.us/b/181922

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
Tiina Trutsi has scored a goal in each of her last three games, all from the penalty spot.

The three-goal streak is the longest by a USA player since Chardé Hannah scored in four straight in November 2015.

Trutsi has put eight of her nine shots this season on goal, and Chelsea Followwell has hit the target with six of her eight attempts.

Trutsi was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Four of USA's six goals this season have come from the penalty spot. The four PKs tie the school record set in 2006.

Rio Hardy's brace on Sunday was the fifth of her career.

Hardy broke a tie for fifth in career goals at USA, and currently has 29, three shy of fourth. She also moved into fifth in career points (70) and is tied for third in career game-winning goals (9).

The Jaguars have scored first in each of the last three games.

South Alabama hit the target 16 times in 29 shots (55.2 SoG%) in its last two outings, after putting 10 shots on goal in 23 attempts (43.5%) in the first three.

South Alabama will be Southeastern Louisiana's (2-3) third Sun Belt opponent this season. The Lions are 0-2, with losses to Georgia State (3-0) and Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0).

SELU is coached by former USA assistant Chris McBride. McBride spent the 2016 season in Mobile and was a member of the staff that won the Sun Belt regular season and tournament titles.

Mississippi State (5-0) is a win away from tying last season's win total. The Bulldogs are off to their best start since 2012.

MSU defeated USA 5-0 this spring in Starkville.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 6-2 victory over Colgate on Sunday. The six goals are the program's most since 2008.

MOODIE QUOTES ON THE WEEKEND
On the positives from last weekend: "It's disappointing with the Alabama game, where I felt like we were in the driver's seat — we outshot them, outplayed them and outworked them at times — and they just had that edge on us, knowing that they could come back and win the game. The qualities that we displayed in that game — individual performances and the team effort — was really positive to carry into Sunday. We talked to the girls about the decision they had to make. We were 1-0 up and cruising, then off a long ball — whether it was offsides or not, we stopped playing — they score. At 1-1, they had a choice of whether or not they wanted to dig themselves out of a hole and get back in the game or wait for the next goal to be conceded. They chose to fight and they got on with it. We had to find a way to get across the line last weekend and they did it. Hopefully, this is where we start picking up momentum, knowing we can win tight games. I think the team displayed good character and I'm happy with the weekend, even though the results didn't go the way we hoped."

On if the offense is coming around: "Are we better? Yes. Is it where it needs to be? No. I do think the combination of Ana Helmert and Tiina Trutsi up top looks good. To have a freshman like Ana, you can her movement is good, and she gets the ball and runs at people. That's a characteristic of a player that's difficult to find over here. She's not scared. She's not scared to make mistakes and she takes ownership when she makes mistakes. Her growth mindset is going to allow her to be fantastic. Tiina is flawless in what she does — she's a perfectionist. I think this team has yet to fire on all cylinders. I think we have the ability to score. We're getting there, we're just not quite there."

On Southeastern Louisiana: "They have a new coaching staff and Coach (Chris) McBride is a great coach, and a guy that likes to play the game properly. As we've watched Southeastern Louisiana, they're attempting to build and they're trying to play out of the back and build through the midfield. They're yet to produce in the final third, but they have a couple of good wins. They're a team that knows they're going to come here with a test and I'm sure their goal is to keep it 0-0 as long as possible and find some success on the counter. If they want to come here and press, I think we can play around them and find holes with the players that we've got. I think we have to be ready to try and beat a team that may sit in. Offensively, we have to be patient and accept that challenge. Defensively we have to stay engaged — it's easy to get disconnected when the ball stays in their half of the field."

On Mississippi State: "They're 5-0 and one of their exhibitions was against No. 7 Florida where they lost 3-2. They're a team that we saw in the spring and they tell the story differently than I do. I tell people they smashed us and they're telling people we played them off the park and they just got lucky. I guess we'll see what that one looks like on Sunday in Starkville. This game is good for us because we need to find a way to win. It's one thing to sit here and use the excuse that they're an SEC team, but that's a victim mentality before we even go into the game. For us, we need to say, How do we get a result? I think that'll be a great opportunity to set us up for the season and go into conference play. If you ask the coaching staff, we can, I'd like to think that we're in a position, where after Thursday and putting in a good performance, see what we can get on Sunday."

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—