South Alabama (16-3-2, 8-1-1) at #6 Florida State (15-5, 8-2)
Nov. 16, 2019 • 5 p.m. • Seminole Soccer Complex (2,000) • Tallahassee, Fla.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 38-18-5 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 86-57-12 (8th year)

Florida State
Mark Krikorian (St. Anselm College, 1983)
Record at FSU: 273-65-30  (14th year)
Overall Record: 441-114-36 (24th year)

SERIES INFORMATION
Florida State leads 10-1.

Current winning streak: Florida State, 2 wins
USA's last win in series: 1-0 (9/5/16) in Mobile
Last meeting: #3 Florida State 2, South Alabama 0 (9/9/18)
USA's record on the road: 0-8
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 8
Notes: USA's 2016 win was its first over a ranked opponent, and ended an eight-game losing streak to the Seminoles… The two schools met in the NCAA Tournament in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, all 5-0 FSU victories… Florida State won the first eight matchups by a combined score of 35-2.

SATURDAY'S GAME
Saturday will mark the seventh straight year the two schools will meet. The first three (2013-15) came in the NCAA Tournament, and the last three (2016-18) were in the regular season. The Jaguars are 0-5 in games played in Tallahassee and 1-0 in Mobile.

On Sunday, USA captured its fifth league double (regular season and tournament titles) with a 5-1 win over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt final. That total is the most in conference history.

Briana Morris earned the Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Performer award and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Tabea Griss, Moa Öhman, Brenna McPartlan and Justice Stanford.

Athanasia Moraitou, who is tied for fifth in the conference in assists (6), missed the entirety of the Sun Belt Tournament due to international duty with the Greece Women's National Team.

South Alabama is 18-0-3 in Sun Belt Tournament games since 2013. The Jaguars advanced on penalties in the semifinals of the 2013 (Arkansas State) and 2015 (Appalachian State) tournaments, and lost on penalties in the semifinals last year (Texas State). Thirteen of those victories have been by shutout.

USA had a 100% home record (7-0) for the first time since 1998 and fourth in school history. The seven wins are the second-most in a perfect home season (1997).

The Jags lead the Sun Belt with 12 shutouts, which are tied for first in school history (2014, 2016). The team's 10 regular-season clean sheets are tied for first in the USA record books (2000, 2014).

Ten of the team's shutouts have come in the last 13 games.

South Alabama has won five of the last six Sun Belt tournament championships.

USA is 68-11-7 in all games against Sun Belt teams since the start of the 2013 season.

Under head coach Richard Moodie, the Jaguars are 7-1-5 in overtime games, including 3-0-2 this season.

USA has scored three or more goals nine times this season, fourth most in school history.

Briana Morris has a conference-best 16 goals and 34 points this season. She currently ranks tied for fourth in goals per game (0.76), tied for third in goals and ninth in points in USA's single-season history.

Morris had her career-long five-game goal streak snapped in the semifinals. She had a six-game point streak that spanned the end of the 2018 and beginning of the 2019 seasons.

Morris' goal total of 14 entering the tournament was tied for the second-most in a regular season at USA since 2009.

Justice Stanford is second in the conference in GAA (0.55) and first in shutouts (10).

Stanford recorded her 10th shutout of the season in the semifinals to move into a tie for second in a single season at South Alabama. Stanford is tied with Sarah Hay (2014) and herself (2016), and trails Kyla Rogers (2000) by one for the record.

Gracie Wilson has 17 points this season, tying the most by a Jaguar freshman since Jemma Purfield also had 17 in 2015.

Wilson is second in the league with eight assists, and seventh in points. In only Sun Belt games, she is third in points (11) and tied for third in goals (4) and assists (3).

MOODIE'S QUOTES ON SATURDAY'S GAME
On the preparation for Saturday: "I think the biggest thing for us is trying to get the girls to believe that there's a chance. We just need 'possible.' We've watched their games and have seen how some of the best teams in the country are playing against them. We're just trying to figure out what is going to work best for us with the personnel that we've got and not sway too far away from who we've been all year. They're a very good team, dynamic going forward and we have to respect them and adjust accordingly. I want to make sure that we have the bravery when we win the ball to at least try and play and have a go at it. I'm hoping we can make it a good game for them."

On the team playing with confidence: "When we got here, we always wanted to make the program better, whether it's breaking school records, improving GPA and APR or sending players off professionally. One of the things that we wanted to improve on when we got here was to take the program further than it ever has. It's about how do you get past that first round. It's tough when the most favorable matchup geographically is with Florida State every year. We're trying to get past that into the second round. At this point, it's anybody's game. The top teams in the country are expected to win. We'll treat this like the FA Cup; there will always be those upsets, and maybe we can pull one off."

On FSU's matchup problems: "Player for player, they're going to be better; they're a different specimen in the ACC in terms of the athleticism, but in terms of the technical ability, I put our team against anybody. The matchup issue is, the tempo that we play at on a regular basis in the Sun Belt versus the tempo they play at on a regular basis in the ACC. I don't doubt that we can get to that tempo, it's how do we keep it at that tempo and can we keep it there. I look at the Ole Miss and Mississippi State games – that's why they need to be on the schedule because it's the only thing that's somewhat comparable to what we're going to go through – and I thought we did extremely well against players that are athletic and technical. Florida State is a league above them, but I think the girls have been challenged and they can play at that level. Can we do it consistently for 90 minutes and keep us in the game? Ultimately, the longer we can keep them at bay and frustrate them, we will get chances to score a goal."

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—