MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette played to a 4-4 draw through two overtime periods Sunday at The Cage, ending the Jaguars’ eight-match winning streak. South Alabama has gone nine straight matches without a loss.
The Jaguars are 10-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Lafayette is 5-6-2 and 0-3-1.
Fast Start
Steffi Hardy opened the scoring in the 15th minute, heading in a long free kick from Nikki Shirtcliffe. Less than four minutes later, Charde Hannah scored off an assist from Danielle Henley to make it 2-0.
Cajuns Answer
Louisiana-Lafayette tied the match before halftime. Yazmin Montoya converted a penalty kick in the 32nd minute, and Annika Schmidt scored in the 43rd minute after a loose ball in front of the South Alabama goal.
Bailey Scott put the Ragin’ Cajuns ahead 3-2 in the 45th minute.
Back-and-Forth Second Half
Rio Hardy tied the match with a penalty kick in the 55th minute, her eighth goal of the season. Hannah gave South Alabama a 4-3 lead in the 70th minute with her 13th goal of the season, finishing a long run down the right side.
Schmidt scored her second goal in the 86th minute, beating the goalkeeper with a long shot after a turnover to force overtime.
South Alabama outshot Louisiana-Lafayette 5-2 in the two overtime periods. One Jaguars shot hit the crossbar and another grazed it. Goalkeeper Sarah Hay played the full match and made three saves.
Winkworth’s Take
“Today was not our best performance,” South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I’m proud of the girls’ work ethic; they worked extremely hard, but I’ve got to do much better. We tied 4-4 against a very good and very enthusiastic Louisiana-Lafayette team, so I want to give them a lot of praise, but we’ve got to perform better and I’ve got to do a better job of preparing them to do that.”
Up Next
The match closed a five-match homestand for South Alabama. The Jaguars travel to Texas State for a 7 p.m. match Friday.
