BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama soccer team scored three goals in 10 minutes and 28 seconds of the second half as they claimed victory over Appalachian State, 3-0, Sunday at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.

After moving into a high press after the halftime intermission, the Jaguars forced a turnover that lead to junior Morgan Cross getting the ball free down USA's left side. Cross drove a low pass across the box to graduate-student Athanasia Moraitou who was unmarked at the edge of the goal box. The Greek international promptly smashed the ball past the Mountaineer defense giving the Jaguars the lead at the 57:34 mark.

Three minutes later, Cross found a sprinting senior Ana Helmert on a through ball. Helmert was one-on-one with Mountaineer goal keeper Kerry Eagleston. The Mountain Home, Ark., native put her laces through the ball and powered it past Eagleston before a reaction could be made.

After an initially cleared corner for the Jags was pushed to the right side of the pitch, junior Tilly Wilkes, who was on that side of the pitch previously taking the corner, sent another cross into the box. In crowd of Jags and Mountaineers, junior Brenna McPartlan won the header and flicked the ball toward an empty side of net where the ball bounced over the line and into the net.

The defensively-stout Mountaineers held the Jaguars at bay for the first half. Coming off back-to-back shutouts of conference opponents, the Boone-based squad appeared to have the defense under control allowing five first-half shots by the Jags with four on target, but only one real opportunity to score. Once the first goal went in, the Mountaineers, forced to chase the game and attempt to tie, left defensive gaps that South exploited to gain a more comfortable win.

Game Facts
- The Jags made one change in the starting 11 with Moraitou getting her second start of the year in place of graduate-student Tabea Griss.
- A dominant defensive performance in the first half saw South only allow a single shot from the Mountaineers, not on target, and that was caught by freshman Anita Gudmundsdottir.
- South pumped five shots in the first half with four on target. The best opportunity to score in the first 45 came when sophomore Gracie Wilson found a gap in the defense and turned a pass on net, but the attempt was stopped by a diving save.
- After going into halftime scoreless, USA pressured the Mountaineers much higher up the pitch forcing errors and errant passes.
- Appalachian State's defense was forced to clear the ball long, the Jaguars changed the angle of attack to the left side of the pitch where Cross took off with a burst of speed. Cross cut inside and played a rolling pass to Moraitou who stepped up and pounded the ball from around the 18 yard-marked goal box beating the defense and propelling South into the lead, 1-0.
- The Mountaineers, now forced to chase the game in an attempt to bring the score back to level terms, left gaps in the back line that were soon exploited by Cross and Helmert. After the pair connected on a throughball, Helmert smashed in the second goal.
- On a Jaguar corner kick, the home team initially cleared the ball out, but only as far as Wilkes. The left back, that was on the right side of the pitch to take the corner, lobbed the ball back in toward the back post. A cluster of Mountaineers and Jaguars waited below, but McPartlan won the ball and flicked it to the back post where it bounced into the net for the final goal of the match in the 69th minute.

Notes
- South Alabama claimed its ninth victory in the series with Appalachian State, which now stands at 9-1-1.
- The win was the first in which the Jaguar defense kept a clean sheet this season.
-USA has won the first three conference games it has played, and this was last accomplished in the 2017 season.
- The seven Jaguar goals this weekend is the most to occur in conference play since 2014 against ULM and Louisiana.
- McPartlan extended her scoring streak to four games, and that matched Briana Morris' longest streak last season; however, Morris accomplished the feat twice.
- The Lancashire, England, native scored her first goal from open play this year with her most recent previous score from open play occurring against Jackson State on Aug. 25, 2019.
- McPartlan matches former Jaguar Rio Hardy by scoring in the first three conference matches; the feat was previously accomplished by Hardy during the 2014 season.
- Gudmundsdottir made one save in her first career clean sheet.
- Cross' one goal and two assist tied a career-high mark in points across a single weekend of games. The previous mark was set when the junior scored a brace against Georgia Southern (10/11/19).
- Helmert scored in back-to-back games for the third time in her career. The senior pocketed a pair against Appalachian State and Little Rock in 2017. The 2019 version featured the Mountain Home, Ark., native winning a penalty and then scoring it against Ole Miss (9/15/19), as four days later she notched the game-winning goal in double-overtime at Texas State (9/19).
- Wilkes cross to McPartlan earned her ninth career assist.

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
- On the match: "App State looked good in the first half, with a lot of possession of the ball but not creating a lot of opportunities in a pretty evenly contested match. We adjusted by getting back to basics in the second half. The changes allowed our student athletes to play more naturally and clearly the response was that it worked. We saw just what we had spent a great deal of practice trying to teach to the players: a focus on scoring goals, and we got three today, seven on the weekend."

- On keeping a clean sheet: "That is the big achievement right now. We really wanted that today, and once we went into the lead, the student-athletes were determined to keep it and succeeded. The entire coaching staff is proud of the performance, but I believe the players may be happier than us with it."

- On winning both matches: "Seven goals, six points, lots of names on the scoresheet, it was a great weekend for us. We got a lot of players rotated in and the depth was extremely helpful to keep players fresh on the pitch. We've seen a lot of improvement in practice, and [Kailey] Littleford stepped up massively. Momo White came into the lineup and that allowed up to push McPartlan higher, which gave us control of the ball and we made them play at our tempo of the game. Leandra Flury has been a common denominator of success from last year. She was extremely solid in defense today and the team has really fed off that energy and knowing she had the back end covered."

Junior Morgan Cross
- On the pair of assists: "We had made it a point in practice to look and wait for late runners at the edge of the box, so when I cut inside, I saw [Athanasia] Moraitou and I just made a low pass to her as she did the rest. For the second one I saw Ana making a great run, she pointed in front of her and I tried to put the perfect weight on the pass. She ran onto the ball and made a great finish on the play to put us up by two."

- On her teammates' performances: "[Leandra] Flury and [Brenna] McPartlan both performed extremely well this weekend. [Ana] Helmert was calm and confident over the weekend and led us well."

- On her favorite moment of weekend: "On Friday, Moraitou sent a pass in from the edge of the box, I tried to anticipate it as I ran onto it. The ball fell to me perfectly and I had a clean finish."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars hosts a pair of teams from the Peach State this weekend at the Cage. Friday at 7 p.m., South will play Georgia Southern, and the following Sunday Georgia State will be the visiting team with a scheduled kickoff of 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