STATESBORO, Ga. – University of South Alabama sophomore
Morgan Cross tallied a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the contest to lead the Jaguars to a 3-0 defeat of Georgia Southern Friday night at Eagle Field.
The Jaguars move into the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference standings with the win, and boast a 10-3-2 overall record and a 5-1-1 mark in the league. The Eagles fall to 4-7-1 and 1-3-1.
GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars used a pair of set pieces to take a 2-0 lead in short order
- Both set pieces resulted in loose balls in front of the goal, which Cross put home at 3:27 and 5:00, respectively
- Senior
Briana Morris recorded her 10th goal of the season in the 30th minute off a rebound from graduate
Athanasia Moraitou
- Sophomore
Brenna McPartlan forced a diving save from distance in the 58th minute
- Freshman
Bergdis Fanney Einarsdóttir also tried GS goalkeeper Lauren Karinshak from outside the box at 61:47 but Karinshak went low for the save
- Senior goalkeeper
Justice Stanford was not called upon for a save but recorded her 31st career shutout, tied for third in Sun Belt history with Troy's Mikki Lewis
NOTES
- USA moves two points above Troy in the league standings
- South Alabama leads the series 10-1 overall, and 8-0 since Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt in 2014; the Jags goal differential in Sun Belt contests is 20-0
- Cross' brace is the first of her career; she has matched her career high in goals from last year with three
- Three of the Jags' five conference wins have been by a 3-0 score line
- Morris has the 23rd double-digit goal season in USA history
- Stanford is three clean sheets away from Erica Izard of Denver for second place in the league record books
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
Overall thoughts: "First things first, this is never an easy place to play. They're much improved; (head coach) Josh (Moffet) has done a great job. We wanted to come here and jump on them early and see if we could get an early goal. The girls did just that – two goals in five minutes and it was happy days from there."
On scoring so quickly: "I think a lot of teams these days are playing to get into the tournament. We're all looking for different things out of the season right now, so they're coming in very defensive minded. The longer that happens, you end up in a game like Arkansas State on Sunday, outshooting them 33-10 and taking the ugliest goal you could ever score to win a game. The importance of the early goals is, if you're working on defending all week and you're trying to play for a draw, then all of the sudden when they score, you don't know how to attack and I think that's what happened tonight. They were so gung-ho about their shape and defending, and when you concede early, there was no way for them to get back in the game."
On moving to the top of the standings: "I can't remember who was first place in the Sun Belt this time last year – it certainly wasn't us. It doesn't bother us one bit. We're not excited about it, we're not anything. We're just humble and we're going to keep working hard. We were the fifth-place team last year. For us, it's about the process and how we've gotten to where we're at. We're playing good soccer and we're going to keep doing it. But I go back to who was in first place this time last year – I don't think anyone can answer that without looking it up. We're one day at a time, one game at a time. I know it sounds like a clichéd answer, but that's the honest truth."
UP NEXT
The Jaguars close out their road schedule Sunday at noon CDT against Coastal Carolina.
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
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