TROY, Ala. – Troy scored once in each half to deal the University of South Alabama soccer team its first defeat in Sun Belt Conference play in a 2-0 victory Friday night at the Troy Soccer Complex.

The Jaguars have their unbeaten streak snapped at five games and drop to 8-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the conference. The Trojans improve to 8-2-3 and 3-1-1.

GAME FACTS
- Troy came closest to breaking through early in the 14th minute; a header by Kate Eubanks off a corner hit the crossbar, and a follow attempt was deflected high
- A header on the subsequent corner kick went just wide
- The Trojans drew iron minutes later on a free kick, hitting the top of the bar
- Troy hit the framework once again on a corner kick, but the resulting scramble ended with Alisa Detlefsen scoring the game's first goal at 23:18
- The Trojans went into halftime up 1-0 while holding a 9-1 advantage in shots
- Nine minutes into the second half, the ball got loose in the box but Troy goalkeeper Haleigh Mercer corralled it before junior Ana Helmert could get a hold of it
- Senior Briana Morris tested Mercer a couple of minutes later but Mercer was able to make the save
- Troy doubled its advantage at 58:21 when Melissa Kuya-Strobel chased down a pass, crossed to Nathali DaSilva, who hit it first time past Justice Stanford
- The Jaguars outshot the Trojans 6-1 the rest of the way, including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal, but were unable to find the net
- Mercer was credited with six saves, and Stanford made five stops

NOTES
- Stanford's shutout streak was ended at 446:24; it was the first goal she allowed since the 64:58 mark against Ole Miss on Sept. 15
- Tonight was the first game in the series not decided by one goal since 2006
- Troy handed South Alabama its first two-goal Sun Belt loss since 2012
- USA is now 7-1-1 in its last nine games at the Troy Soccer Complex
- The Trojans pick up their first win over South Alabama on their home field for the first time since 2013
- South Alabama's two goals allowed tie its season high and are the most since the season opener vs. Tennessee Tech

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
Overall thoughts: "Obviously we're disappointed. It's a game where we thought we could set up and match up better with Troy, but a poor 45 minutes created complications for ourselves and we were struggling to get back in the game. We got caught on the counter in the second half. As hard as it is to say, Troy deserved to win the game. We just have to get back, regroup and see how we play a similar team in Arkansas State on Sunday."

On the slow start: "I'm not sure, but we had to change some personnel, and when you play your last seven or eight games next to somebody and she's not there, you look around and it's different. I can't say specifically it's due to personnel, but a lot of times we shoot ourselves in the foot. We talk about pressing and jumping on top of them early, and the games that we don't, we struggle to grow into. We still manage to win some of those, but the games that we have lost, we can compare the three of them and say they all have that in common. We're a team of confidence and we build off confidence, so if we can't get it early, it's a long night."

On the better performance in the last 30 minutes: "It's a bit frustrating because we worked on some things in practice that I thought would have helped us tonight, but as a coaching staff we have to put our hands up as well and say we didn't get the gameplan right. We didn't break them down and we didn't create chances, but of the chances we did create, when they don't go in, you know it's not going to be your night. If we could have snuck one or two of those in, those are the games where you're able to take a bad performance and turn it into a win or a point. We knew it wasn't going to be our night."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars return home Sunday to take on Arkansas State at 1 p.m.

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—