FOLEY, Ala. – After allowing the Ragin' Cajuns an early goal scored on a deflection of an errant clearance, the University of South Alabama soccer team rallied by scoring the following four over Louisiana notching a 4-1 victory, Friday evening at Foley Sports Tourism Complex. The victory earned the Jags a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament Finals.

Junior Morgan Cross was an offensive presence early following the UL goal. The left winger from Dunfirmline, Scotland earned the penalty to jumpstart the Jaguar offense. Junior Brenna McPartlan popped in the penalty to level the game at 1. Seconds before halftime, junior Tilly Wilkes smashed a cross into the box, and after evading a defender senior Ana Helmert guided the ball in to give South a 2-1 halftime lead, with the ball rippling the mesh as the goal was registered with nine seconds in the half. Sophomore Gracie Wilson registered her fifth goal of the year, and junior transfer Matilda Ovenberger recorded her first goal as a Jaguar.

Louisiana notched the opening goal six minutes into the match after an errant clearance deflected off the foot of Ashley Newland and found the attacking the left side of the goal, but that was all the Jaguar defense would allow.

Game Facts
- UL opened the scoring early. After an attack appeared to fizzle out, a defender smashed the ball low toward the boundary.  As Newland was shifting right, she stuck her left foot toward the ball and the clearance deflected off her, looped around the Jaguar defense and found the left side of the goal in the sixth minute, 1-0 to UL.
- South made its way back into the match as the offense grew in strides, but the backline of the Ragin' Cajuns kept South contained.
- After Cross made a few runs, she got a step on the right back in the 31st minute. The winger hopped over the first slide tackle that missed the ball and her subsequently, but the following defender took out the forward and the referee indicated a penalty. McPartlan strode up and notched the ball home to tie the game, 1-1.
- South's offense pressed the defense harder with a burst of energy provided by the tying goal and in the waning moments of the half, Wilkes crushed a long cross toward the box, Helmert juked around a defender then won the race to the ball and directed in the cross to go up 2-1, nine ticks before halftime.
- USA played on the front foot in the second half with advantages in most offensive categories, including time of possession, making UL chase the ball and the game.
- Exactly eight minutes into the second half, JUCO transfer Matilda Ovenberger made it 3-1. Helmert drove down the right side and ripped a shot on net. Louisiana's goalkeeper Lauren Starwood parried the ball into play and Ovenberger knocked the rebound in.
- Sophomore Gracie Wilson finished the scoring in the 71st minute. Helmert notched a shot from the left side, and it splashed off a defender. The 2019 Freshman of the Year timed her swing and sent a rocket screaming into the net (4-1).
- With 10 minutes left, both teams rotated in younger players and the sides saw out the game with no change in score.

Notes
- After not beating Louisiana in the last three meetings, South Alabama earned its first victory over UL since
- South improves to 2-0 in Sun Belt Tournament games against the Ragin' Cajuns. In those two meetings, South has scored 11 goals on UL while allowing two.
- It was the first victory over UL in Alabama since a 4-2 win on 10/24/2013.
- 18 players have appeared on the field for USA over the course of two matches in the Tournament.
- Freshman Allison Luckhardt recorded her first win in her first career start as a Jag. Like Gudmundsdottir earlier this year, she allowed a single goal and won in her first match.
- McPartlan is now in sole possession of the goals lead in the Sun Belt Conference with eight.
- Wilson and Helmert both broke into double-digit amount of points with 11 each. Both players have five goals with one assist.
- Wilkes increased her team defense-leading point total to seven with an assist on the game-winning goal.
- Ovenberger recorded her first points since the match at Troy (10/11) with her first career Jaguar goal, and it was also her eighth-straight appearance after returning from injury.
- Morgan White has now appeared in 12 consecutive games, missing the first match due to COVID contact tracing.
- Freshman Hailey Bastian made her collegiate debut, playing at right winger as Cross made way for the first-year player.
- Sophomore Brianna Pope made her first appearance since playing against Appalachian State (10/18).

Head Coach Richard Moodie
- On the match: "Slow start, Strong finish. It's not how you start; it's how you finish. The goal before halftime really helped, although we were on the front foot. The goal kind of sealed it. Going into the second half we knew we needed to start fast. At the end, we were just looking to get some players in for the last 10 minutes. We are really proud of this team and of the effort; Luckhardt and all the freshmen were brilliant, but the veterans and returning players led like champions."

- On the performance: "What really helped was the returners leading by example. If you go through the lineup and see the players we had here last year, those were the student-athletes running, helping, encouraging and working hard. We shifted bodies all over the field, but today was a team effort with an emphasis on the returners. If they don't lead, we don't follow."

Junior Morgan Cross
- On the performance: "We just worked hard for each other. We gave 100 percent from the first minute to the last. Even though it did not start how we wanted, we bounced back. Scoring right before halftime gave us a boost. I think we played really well and kept possession well."

- On earning the penalty: "I just saw it was a one-v-one situation and I always want to take on the full back and to be positive [in attack]. The girls tried to dive in as I tried to avoid it, and the referee saw it and awarded the penalty."

UP NEXT
A rematch of the 2019 Sun Belt Championship in the 2020 finals, South Alabama will play Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Championship at Foley Sports Tourism Complex on Sunday with kickoff scheduled for 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