South Alabama at Mississippi State • Sept. 12, 2019 • 7 p.m. •  MSU Soccer Field (500) • Starkville, Miss.
South Alabama at Ole Miss • Sept. 15, 2019 • 1 p.m. • Ole Miss Soccer Stadium (1,500) • Oxford, Miss.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Richard Moodie (Carson-Newman, 2006)
Record at USA: 26-16-4 (3rd year)
Overall Record: 74-55-11 (8th year)

Mississippi State
James Armstrong (Edinburgh, 2000)
Record at MSU: 4-2 (1st year)
Overall Record: Same

Ole Miss
Matthew Mott (Central Florida, 2000)
Record at OM: 98-71-20 (10th year)
Overall Record: Same

SERIES INFORMATION
MSU: Mississippi State leads 8-5-1.

Current winning streak: Mississippi State, 1 win
USA's last win in series: 1-0 (8/21/15)
Last meeting: Mississippi State 3, South Alabama 0 (8/26/18)
USA's record on the road: 3-3-1
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 3 / 5
Notes: Mississippi State snapped a three-game losing streak in the series in 2016 in Mobile… That game was the second to go into double overtime — the first came in 2001… The Bulldogs outscored the Jaguars 15-1 in a five-match win streak from 2003-2012… USA is 3-2-1 against MSU in the last six games, including back-to-back shutout wins in 2014 and 2015.

OM: Ole Miss leads 4-2.

Current winning streak: Ole Miss, 1 win
USA's last win in series: 1-0 (9/11/16) in Oxford
Last meeting: Ole Miss 2, South Alabama 1 (9/2/18)
USA's record on the road: 1-3
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 1 / 2
Notes: The 2016 meeting between the two schools, a 1-0 victory, was the first since 2003… The teams met in each of the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons, with the Rebels winning two of the three matchups… Ole Miss won back-to-back meetings in 1998 and 2003 by a combined score of 9-0.

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
South Alabama is off to its best start to a season since 2015.

The Jaguars have scored 22 goals so far in 2019, just two short of their total from all of 2018. The 24 goals last year were the program's fewest since 2009.

USA's goal total of 22 is tied for the fifth-highest total through six games in school history, and the best since 2014.

The Jags rank in the top 10 in the nation in points per game (10.33, 7th), goals per game (3.67, 8th) and assists per game (3.00, T-9th).

Briana Morris leads the conference in both goals (8) and points (17) after her two-goal outing Sunday at Southeastern Louisiana. She has scored a goal in five of USA's six games this season, and has recorded two or more three times.

Morris is fourth in Division I in goals per game (1.33) and seventh in points per game (2.83).

Morris has more points through six games than any Jaguar in the last 11 seasons, and is tied for the most goals in the same span (Lauren Allison, 2013).

Athanasia Moraitou and Gracie Wilson are tied for the conference lead in total assists (4). Wilson posted her fourth assist of the season Sunday at Southeastern Louisiana.

Justice Stanford recorded her first shutout of the season and 25th of her career on Sunday. She currently ranks fifth in Sun Belt history in career clean sheets, five away from Danielle Wiley of Denver fourth.

MOODIE'S QUOTES ON THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
On going back out on the road: "Mississippi State and Ole Miss are two fantastic teams that are well coached and well organized. I think it will be a really good test for our team before they go into conference play. The timing of it is good; this is something we wanted for the girls, to try and get one more real big push before we go into conference play. We're going into two really difficult games, and I think it's safe to say if Ole Miss and Mississippi State were in our conference, they'd be in the top half. So if you're going to push your team, I think these are two really good games to push them."

On bouncing back from a defeat: "A tell-tale sign of a champion is not the loss itself – it's the game after a loss and how you rebound from it. It wasn't the result that was the response against Southeastern Louisiana, it was the performance. I thought the girls executed fantastically, we dominated the game and I think that's the true sign of a team that's competitive and can bounce back after adversity. I'm really proud of their efforts and performance. They were determined to get it right, they knew what they had to do and they came out and did it. You need to learn from your failures, and that loss maybe triggered something inside that they don't want to feel like that ever again."

On taking anything from last year's games vs. MSU and OM: "I don't think it's any easier this year, regardless of the changes (in players and coaches). All I care about is I think we're in a better place this year than we were this time last year. Mississippi State are good, they have a new coach and are playing a new style. Ole Miss are very young but continue to play a very attractive style of soccer. It's inevitable that the teams are going to be good, but the focus is just on us. Can we go into these games that are going to be tougher and keep a clean sheet? Can we break down a top team? Can we have our set pieces work? We're a different team and that's all I care about. What do we look like going into it and what do we look like coming out of it? I want a team that's eager to compete and win these games, and regardless of the results, I want a team coming out of it that's saying, We're ready to go into conference play."

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—