Head coach Richard Moodie is in his third season leading the University of South Alabama soccer program. While year one ended in the Jaguars' fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, last season saw the Jags get eliminated from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament is the semifinals on a penalty shootout. He returns eight starters from last year's squad, including 2018 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and 2019 Preseason all-Sun Belt honoree Brenna McPartlan. Moodie spoke with USAJaguars.com about last season, what he learned from it and how the team can score more goals.

What was your biggest takeaway from last season?
We knew we had a great group, one that was relentless, played through challenging games in our non-conference schedule, fought against adversity through the season and never gave up. I've said it before and I'm not scared to say it, we struggled to score and it only seemed fitting to lose in a penalty shootout – a free shot from 12 yards. I'm proud of the girls from last year, I'm proud of the ones that have returned and are ready to go again. This group is going to work until the end and that's a trademark for us at South Alabama. We're going to work harder than you and that's what they're ready to do.

Do you think the tough non-conference schedule took something out of the team by the end?
Yes, 100%. You accept it and you play it, but it's hard to go five games on the trot, play so well in some of them, and not come away with anything. We played worse in other games and came away with wins, so which one do you feel better about? It's hard to keep telling them to believe in the process, that everything's going well. It was tough for the girls but they did an exceptional job moving on to the next game. I wonder how that non-conference run affected the first two conference home games against Texas State and Coastal Carolina, two of the better teams in the conference last year. Would we have been better equipped? Perhaps. Would our confidence have been better? Perhaps.

How you plan on addressing the lack of goals?
There are two ways a team gets better: your returnees come back and get better, and you bring in better players, and I think that's happened. The most important one is that the returning players have come back better. We're fitter than we've ever been; we have a lot of girls that have been working hard and playing this summer. We have some girls that took a step back and evaluated last year and what you take out of it, and they've come in and said they don't want it to look like last year. How do we address it? We don't address it any differently in terms of what we're coaching or what we've been preaching to the girls since we got here. We just continue to reemphasize the process and how we want to play. We got away from it when we changed formations at times, but the game model and the ideas stay the same.

Six of your top seven goal scorers are back from last season – do you feel comfortable with what you have?
Yes, but when you have Brenna McPartlan, who's your holding center midfielder, as your top goal scorer, that shouldn't happen. We need to have more girls chipping in. The loss of Kory Dixon in that equation was massive for us, hopefully she'll be back fit. The hardest statistic from last year is when you end a season without a trophy; that's tough, but you can't win it every year. We understand that, but it doesn't stop the want and desire to win it every year. We had the fewest goals scored since 2009, and that hurts because we want to play an attractive style of soccer and scoring goals; that's why people come to soccer games. That hurts the most because it's not what we came in here to do. We want to make this program better than it's ever been. To do that, it's a simple equation: score more and concede less. That's what we have to do.

Why is the loss of Hannah Godfrey so important?
There's Hannah Godfrey the player and there's Hannah Godfrey the person. I don't think you can separate or compare the importance of each. In the locker room, her leadership and her captaincy is unlike any other. That's why she is where she is, because of the character of the individual. That's the hardest thing when you recruit, to get that right. In terms of her as a player, she was the hardest-working player that we had. The good thing that came out of that, was that other players came with her and saw what it takes to get to that level. If you want to sign a professional contract, this is what it takes. The loss of her in terms of character is massive, but in the back as well, because she kept us in a lot of games with her leadership and quality as a player. But I think she's inspired the girls that are here now to want to work hard and have a better season.

Who will take over for her in terms of leadership, on and off the field?
At South Alabama, we're fortunate to have this leadership program and we have three girls that are invested in it: Briana Morris, Abi Mills and Ana Helmert. Those three girls as a leadership council will assume the responsibility of captaincy on game day. You don't have a girl like Hannah that comes through your locker room every year, that one presence that can take on the role. A captain is not just wearing an arm band; it's so much more. You deal with problems and issues; it's tough. We didn't feel like we had all of those qualities in one individual, but we felt like we had multiple qualities in several individuals that can combine together. In a massive squad that we have, it's just easier to split up those responsibilities. The girls have done exceptionally well. We tried it all spring and they came back, smashed the fitness test, led by example and in practice they're doing the same. We won't skip a beat.

Explain your 'no team goals' approach to the season.
We do a PowerPoint at the start of the season, and we say we've scored this many goals, break it down by record and Friday vs. Sunday, compare all of the statistics, and we look for areas where we can get better. When we first got here in 2017, the biggest trend was we could not win in overtime. That was the biggest focus and we won more overtimes that year than maybe we ever had. When we looked at it again after that, we wanted to do several things, but maybe the group wasn't ready and it was too much pressure from us on the front end for them to live up to these expectations. We know what we want and any coach is crazy to walk into the season and say we're going to play for second. The girls will watch our two exhibition games and then establish goals. It's important to see what kind of team we have. That doesn't mean we're going to lessen expectations, but we get to see a better picture of who we're going to be. It's the first time that I've ever done it and it allows for so much growth. We're keeping a clean slate so hopefully we can be affected by some guest speakers we have coming in. When it's all said and done, we're going to know where we're at.

Does not winning the league last year change your approach to the season?
Yes, because when I look back on it, we pushed hard against Coastal Carolina, gave away a free kick and conceded in extra time. Knowing that now, we could have sat back and kept the ball because they were sitting underneath. We could've walked away with a tie and it could've changed things in the conference, but in that moment, you're at home and you want to win. We pushed and we conceded. The same thing happened against Texas State. We push, Kaylee Davis gets away and we concede. We have one cleared off the line in the last minute. Looking at it now, maybe we have to be more strategic because the conference is close. We're not going to be as eager to press and try to win. I think we have the ability to maybe let it happen more naturally like we did in 2017.

What was your thinking behind adding the three graduate transfers?
We added three graduate transfers and two freshmen that are 20 years old as well. The thinking is simple: we've done it before and had a lot of success when you're trying to take almost a brand new team, you bring in more mature players so the academics take care of themselves, and soccer at a high level isn't new to them. Two of our three have played for their senior national team in front of 50,000 people. It's that maturity factor and hoping that can help with the captaincy and leadership. The more experience we have in the locker room, the more we'll get out of the group. The maturity of the group has already improved, we've seen it in practice and it goes over to the other players around them.

What are some of your biggest concerns going into the season?
That we can't score goals again, would be first. Staying fit and healthy is every team's concern, and from there, can we stay consistent? Early on, if we can get goals and results, then our tail is up. When you come out of the preseason games, it doesn't define you, but the biggest fear for us is not failing, but not living up to the potential and expectations that we have for our team. We have exceptional players and chemistry so we have to maximize the potential of the group.

Who will have an increased role this year?
I see an increased role for Briana Morris, not that she wasn't an important player for us last year, but she ended the season well and carried off like that in the summer, and was the top goal scorer in the WPSL. We'll be looking to her for goals. Last year we didn't put that pressure on her and now she knows she has the ability to score against some of the nation's best. Ana Helmert's season was ended prematurely with her injuries. The two that really stands out are Moa (Öhman), who has found her knack and has been great in practice, and Kileigh Whited. She's now a center back and she worked all spring to fill the void of Hannah Godfrey and did exceptionally well. She's improved every aspect of her game and I think she's going to have a massive season for us.

What other areas do you want to see improvement from?
Last year in practices we looked so sharp, then we went into games and played scared. I want them to choose freedom over fear when they get on the field. They understand why they play the game. In our locker room we have a sign that says "For the Love of the Game." Nobody wants to finish second, but at the same time, we play well in practice, we just want that consistency to shine through in the performance on the field. If we can have that week in and week out, good things will happen for us.

What newcomers have a shot at being in the starting XI on day one?
The three graduate transfers – Athanasia Moraitou, Chloe McGlade and Tabea Griss – because we know they only have a year of eligibility, so you're crazy to say they won't play. Bergdís Fanney Einarsdóttir could be in the mix, Leandra Flury will be a massive addition for us because we needed depth at defender, and Gracie Wilson is a phenomenal player. Megan Snider is another center back, so you've got Leandra, Megan and Kileigh (Whited) who can contribute right away.

What was your approach when putting together the schedule?
This is the first schedule I've had to make. We reworked the non-conference schedule, knowing we were going to Troy's tournament. UAB is an in-state rival, who will always do well in their conference, and a great game to have. Stetson is coming off a coaching change, but we expect them to be better and we don't want games that will hurt our RPI. At Southeastern Louisiana, (head coach) Chris (McBride) has a great thing going there and it wouldn't surprise me to see them finish in the top half of their conference. Southern Miss is a simple one because with them and UAB, we're competing for the same players. You're better off playing those teams and winning to help recruiting. Keeping the two SEC teams on there is important for us because we promise our girls the best exposure to the top level. We want them to have the ability to play against the top teams.

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