MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama soccer closed its home schedule with two shutout wins at The Cage, beating Georgia Southern 2-0 on Friday and Georgia State 1-0 on Sunday to set a school record with a 13-match unbeaten streak.
The Jaguars lead the Sun Belt Conference with 19 points and improved to 14-2-1 overall and 6-0-1 in league play. Texas State is second with 15 points, at 10-5-1 overall and 5-2 in conference.
Hannah’s Late Goals Sink Georgia Southern
Freshman Charde Hannah scored in the 85th and 90th minutes Friday night as South Alabama beat Georgia Southern 2-0, pushing the unbeaten streak to a school-record 12 matches.
The goals were Hannah’s 15th and 16th of the season, the most in the Sun Belt. Her goal total ties for second on South Alabama’s single-season list, and her 38 points rank fifth-best for a season in program history.
Hannah’s first goal came when she took advantage of a short pass back toward the Georgia Southern goalkeeper, gaining control of the loose ball and putting it into an empty net. Her second followed a give-and-go with Rio Hardy outside the box.
South Alabama outshot the Eagles 11-1 in a scoreless first half.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Hay made three saves for her seventh shutout of the season, and the team recorded its ninth. Both totals lead the conference.
“Right now with all of these teams beating each other in the league, all we can do is focus on ourselves and I’m pleased we got the result,” South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I thought the first half, even though we went in 0-0, was probably better from a playing standpoint than the second, but at the same time, we got the result and I’m proud of the girls for digging in.”
“Often things open up in the second half when teams make adjustments,” Winkworth said. “(Georgia Southern) coach (Brian) Dunleavy is a very good coach—he made some adjustments and we made some adjustments so the game opens up a little bit. At the same time, as it opens up for them, it opens up for us as well, and fortunately we were able to put a couple in the net.”
Duncan’s Header Beats Georgia State
Junior Jordan Duncan’s header in the 29th minute was the only goal Sunday as South Alabama beat Georgia State 1-0 to extend the record streak to 13 matches.
Freshman Sophie Haywood found sophomore Emily Farrell on the wing, and Farrell’s cross found Duncan, who headed it into the upper right corner. It was Duncan’s sixth goal of the season and her first since September.
South Alabama held the Panthers to five shots, only one on goal. Hay made one save for her eighth shutout of the season. The Jaguars took 22 shots, put 11 on goal and hit the crossbar twice.
“It was a physical game,” Winkworth said. “Both teams work extremely hard and you expect that sometimes when teams are very athletic and hardworking. Georgia State is a hardworking team, so a lot of credit to them. It was a close game and we were just fortunate we defended well throughout and I’m proud of our team’s effort. It was a good, positive result for us and it puts us a little closer to start talking more about finishing high at the table.”
“It was a very nice goal,” Winkworth said of Duncan’s header. “It’s funny because we played keepy-uppy with headers yesterday in practice because I was frustrated from the day before, so it’s funny that the goal came from her head. I told her it was all because of our practice yesterday and she was laughing at me.”
“The defense was fantastic,” Winkworth said. “They won first balls, they won second balls and they didn’t allow the ball to bounce like they did on Friday night. I’m really proud of their effort; they did exactly what we asked them to do and I can’t speak highly enough of them.”
“From an attacking standpoint, the attack began with them so I’m proud of the way we played with the ball at the back. It was great work from our backline.”
Regular-Season Finale in Arkansas
South Alabama closes the regular season next weekend in Arkansas, playing Arkansas State on Friday afternoon and Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday.
Entering the Weekend
South Alabama entered the weekend on top of the Sun Belt standings with 13 points and an 11-match unbeaten streak that tied the school record. The Jaguars had not lost since a 2-1 defeat to Kennesaw State on Aug. 31.
Georgia Southern came into Friday’s match at 9-3-1 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt, tied for second place with 12 points. Georgia State arrived for Sunday’s match at 5-6-4 overall and 3-1-1 in league play, fourth in the standings with 10 points. The Panthers had recovered from an 0-4-2 start and had won back-to-back matches for the first time all season, beating Arkansas State and Georgia Southern by a combined 7-2.
Sunday’s match was South Alabama’s Senior Day, with seniors Shawn Meach and Emi Passini recognized before the 1 p.m. start.
