Date: 11/10

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt released the listing of all-conference performers and the University of South Alabama soccer team had seven players earn recognition for their regular season accomplishments. Juniors Olivia "Tilly" Wilkes and Brenna McPartlan were joined sophomore Gracie Wilson on the first team as graduate student Athanasia Moraitou, senior Ana Helmert, junior Morgan Cross and sophomore Leandra Flury were named as second-team selections.

With five goals and five assists, junior Brenna McPartlan led a potent Jaguars' offense. South led the Sun Belt with 23 goals (22 in league play) averaging 2.09 per game. The Lancashire, England, native was in the top two of eight offensive categories in the Sun Belt Conference standings for the regular season. With two game-winning goals, she was tied for leading that category on the team, and has the lone game-tying goal for South, scoring a penalty with three seconds left that led to a double-overtime victory over Troy in the first conference game of the year.

Voted pre-season defensive player of the year, the junior from Preston, England played to that standard for USA. The defender added two more goals, with one going as the game-winning goal in the first conference game of the season against Troy. The left back added a pair of assists, one against Appalachian State with her cross finding the head of Brenna McPartlan before being directed in, with the other finding Athanasia Moraitou in a gap of the defense before her cross was knocked in by Gracie Wilson. Defensively, the Jaguars held opponents scoreless five times include a current 277-minute shutout streak to close out the season.

Ranking tied for fifth in goals scored in the conference, the 2019 SBC freshman of the year has remained a force in the midfield. With a pair of game-winning goals over Georgia Southern, the sophomore has accumulated nine points, third on the club and seventh in conference, with four goals and an assist. The Conyers, Ga., native netted the only goal in the penultimate match for the Jaguars as South held Georgia Southern scoreless taking all three points in Statesboro.

With four assists, the Greek International is tied for third in the conference for assists, but with only seven games played putting Moraitou in first for assists-per-game. The only goal the center midfielder has scored this year was a game-winning goal at Boone, N.C., over App State. Three assists were scored in a three-game span with Moraitou assisting on both goals against Georgia Southern and the first goal against Troy nine days later.

With 4 goals over the regular season, Helmert ranked tied for fifth in the Sun Belt. The team captain of the Jaguars has scored in three road games with goals against Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and Georgia State; two of the top three teams in the east. The senior's lone goal in Mobile came in the final regular season home game of the year. While not having an assist officially during the regular season, the striker has been involved in the build-up play with runs to free up a different player with a defender chasing to cover, or as was the case for her goal at Appalachian State, passing to a winger then receiving the ball again and scoring directly after.

With 10 points on the season, Cross is tied for fifth in points and points-per-game in the conference at the conclusion of the regular season. Winning conference offensive player of the week (10/14) after scoring a brace against rival Troy, Cross has earned points in five conference games with a streak of three games to start league play. While not earning a game-winning goal, Cross has put the Jaguars ahead each time this weekend, scoring the opening goal at Troy and with the score tied at 1-1 at Troy and Coastal Carolina. The junior has assisted game-winning goals on two of four assists.

On the pitch for over 1,000 of the teams 1,040 minutes during the 11-game season, Flury has been a wall at the back line of defense. Keeping five clean sheets in league play and holding opponents to under an average of six shots per game, Flury's positional play has stopped opposing attacks before giving them a chance to formulate. Coming forward for free kicks and corner kicks, the center back has three shots with two requiring saves which is tied for second on the team with shot on goal percentage for the team.

2020 First Team All-Sun Belt
 
Sarah Sodoma, (F) Arkansas State
Jimena Cabrero, (F) Georgia State
Marcela Montoya, (F) Georgia Southern
Brenna McPartlan, (MF) South Alabama
Lizzie Mayfield, (MF) Louisiana
Mackenzie Gibbs, (MF) Coastal Carolina
Gracie Wilson, (MF) South Alabama
Gwen Mummert, (D) Louisiana
Tilly Wilkes, (D) South Alabama
Mackenzie Cherry, (D) Coastal Carolina
Megan McClure, (GK) Arkansas State
 
2020 Second Team All-Sun Belt

Morgan Cross, (F) South Alabama
Ana Helmert, (F) South Alabama
Maddie Johnston, (F) Georgia State
Sunny Sigurvinsdottir, (F) Coastal Carolina
Jolie Ryff, (MF) Georgia State
Morgan Smocovich, (MF) Little Rock
Athanasia Moraitou, (MF) South Alabama
Hailey Cloud, (D) Arkansas State
Kamree Holloway, (D) Georgia State
Leandra Flury, (D) South Alabama
Jaddah Foos, (GK) Georgia State   

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