South Alabama soccer advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final Friday night, getting a save from Sarah Hay in the 11th round of a penalty-kick shootout to get past Appalachian State after the teams played to a 2-2 draw.
The top-seeded Jaguars twice held a lead during regulation, and Appalachian State answered both times, the second with less than two minutes to play. South Alabama won the shootout 10-9.
South Alabama will meet No. 6 seed Georgia State in the championship match at noon Sunday. Georgia State reached the final by beating Troy, also on penalty kicks. The final will be streamed on ESPN3.com.
Unbeaten Streak Continues
Because the match goes into the record books as a draw, the result ended South Alabama’s 11-match winning streak. The Jaguars’ unbeaten streak, however, remains intact at 13 matches.
South Alabama is seeking a third consecutive Sun Belt Tournament title after winning the event in 2013 and 2014.
How the Goals Came
Charde Hannah opened the scoring in the 25th minute. Sophomore Ashlynn Jones won possession off an Appalachian State goal kick and quickly played the ball to Hannah, who finished for a 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers equalized about seven and a half minutes later when Kate Ward placed a free kick into the upper left corner. The teams went into halftime tied 1-1.
Sophomore Danielle Henley put South Alabama back in front at the 60:32 mark. A header by senior Nini Rabsatt-Smith was cleared off the goal line, and Henley knocked in the rebound.
Appalachian State took only two shots over the next 27 minutes. At 88:02, Hay parried a cross from the byline by Jane Cline but could not hold it, and Sam Childress reached the loose ball first to tie the match 2-2.
The Shootout
Only two attempts were missed before the decisive save. Hay stopped Ward in the second round, and Appalachian State goalkeeper Megan Roberson saved a try by sophomore Chelsea Followwell in the fourth round to even the shootout.
The teams then converted their attempts until freshman Jemma Purfield gave South Alabama a 10-9 edge in the 11th round. Hay followed with the save that sent the Jaguars to the final.
Shots Favor the Jaguars
South Alabama outshot Appalachian State 23-8, including 22-6 in regulation. The Jaguars put eight shots on frame, compared with four for the Mountaineers.
South Alabama also hit the crossbar, had shots cleared off the line and had a goal disallowed, according to head coach Graham Winkworth.
Winkworth: ‘There’s More to Come’
“I’m really pleased that we managed to find a way through to the next round, which is a characteristic the girls have shown all season long – they’ve managed to find a way, but our performance wasn’t up to scratch today,” Winkworth said. “We need to make sure we do a better job on Sunday in the final.”
“Despite not playing our best soccer though, we still managed to hit the bar, had a couple saved off the line and had a goal disallowed, so we created chances but they didn’t fall for us,” he said. “At the same time, we managed to do that and not play our best soccer, so I’m encouraged knowing that there’s more to come from us.”
Winkworth said the closing minutes of regulation were a point of emphasis.
“We’ve got to do a better job of managing the game,” he said. “With two minutes to go, we’re making poor decisions at the back, whether we’re playing short when it should’ve gone long, or not putting it out of play and trying to do too much out of the back. When there’s two minutes to go, you have to make quality decisions to manage the game well.”
“We’ll talk about it, but to be honest, these girls have done so much for us all season, they’re all entitled to a mistake now and again,” Winkworth said. “We’ll brush that off and think about all of the positives that they’ve done today.”
Winkworth said the halftime score did not reflect the first 45 minutes.
“It was opposite of the other day (in the quarterfinals), because we weren’t clinical in front of goal,” he said. “We should have put them away early in the game. The fact that it was tied at halftime, that wasn’t a fair reflection of the first half. We didn’t take our chances and we didn’t put them away; we came in at halftime disappointed to be level. But like I told the girls, we were the team on the ascendency trying to win the match, and that positive attitude will be rewarded.”
