South Alabama at Georgia State • Sept. 16, 2018 • Noon • GSU Soccer Field (1,892) • Decatur, Ga.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 16-11-1 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 64-50-8 (7th year)

Georgia State
Ed Joyce (Erskine, 2006)
Record at GSU: 10-22-10 (3rd year)
Overall Record: Same

SERIES INFORMATION
South Alabama leads 9-2-1.

Current winning streak: USA, 7 wins
GSU's last win in series: 3-0 (9/18/09) in Atlanta
Last meeting: South Alabama 2, Georgia State 1 (9/24/17) in Mobile
USA's record in Atlanta: 4-1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 7 / 2
Notes: South Alabama has won all seven meetings since Georgia State joined the conference prior to the 2013 season, outscoring the Panthers 14-2 with five consecutive shutouts… The teams met in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals in 2013 (2-0 USA win) and the final in 2015 (4-0 USA win)… The Jags won the first two meetings in 1994 and 1995, but went winless in the next three (0-2-1).

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Video
None
Live stats
statb.us/b/223085

SUNDAY'S GAME
South Alabama's game against Appalachian State, originally scheduled for Friday, was postponed due to Hurricane Florence.

USA has won its last four Sun Belt openers.

Justice Stanford's next shutout will be the 20th of her career, moving her into a tie for first at South Alabama, and 10th in league history.

Freshman Brianna Mascia scored her first career goal last week against Alabama.

South Alabama is currently on a five-game losing streak, all to SEC and ACC opponents, including No. 3 Florida State on Sunday. The skid is the program's longest since October 2010.

The Jags are 2-5 after non-conference play, a year after going 2-4-1 prior to the start of the league season. Last year, the team won 12 of its next 13 games en route to a fourth-straight regular-season title and a fifth consecutive tournament crown.

USA is 51-6-4 in all games against Sun Belt teams since the start of the 2013 season.

South Alabama has won the last seven meetings with Georgia State, allowing just two goals over that span.

Stanford tied her career high with 10 saves at Alabama and added seven more at Florida State.

Georgia State's Brooke Shank is fourth in the Sun Belt in goals per game (0.38) and tied for eighth in points per game (0.75). She had one shot on goal vs. South Alabama last season in Mobile.

The Panthers have failed to score in six of their eight games this year, including in each of their last three outings.

MOODIE'S QUOTES ON GEORGIA STATE
On starting conference play this week: "We're pleased to get out of the non-conference part of our schedule, because it was such a tough run of games, but we're happy the way we did come out of it. Even though we lost to Florida State, I thought we played very well against them. The stats may not say much about the performance, we worked so hard and stuck with the plan; the team executed everything that we asked them to do. The goals we gave up were a little sloppy, but to have been 60 minutes in and working as hard as we had, it shows the commitment that this team has. It's disappointing to not get a result out of the last five games because in two of them, we should have. I'm proud of the team for taking on the schedule. They're still confident and know there's still something out there to win."

On what stands out on the season so far: "We've had to change systems, formations, players and positions, and in this game you have to be able to adapt. We've played in weather conditions that haven't favored us and have come up against teams that have a game plan that has been very successful for them. We've always been able to adapt. We went from playing four at the back to three at the back against SEC teams, and it's not something that you've had a chance to work on, given the short work week we have allocated to us. I think that's the most impressive thing: our team's ability to adapt and acceptance in how we're going to play. In six of the seven games, we said, We're going to have a go at this and try to possess the ball and not sit back and hold on for dear life."

On if the non-conference schedule prepared the team: "The schedule we had was tough. Does it help us prepare for the conference? Yes. What would the morale of your team be had you lost those five? That's something you have to think about. Thankfully, right now the morale is high. We have to beat teams like Ole Miss and LSU. To get a result out of a Florida State takes a lot of luck and things going your way; we're not quite at that level. The team has stayed motivated and have still bought in. Non-conference play is massive, but it's part one of a three-part series. Part two is the conference and part three is the tournament. The team recognizes that and we're ready to go this week."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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—