MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama soccer, the defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion, has been picked to win the league’s regular-season title in the 2014 preseason poll, and two Jaguars were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
South Alabama received 98 points and nine of the 10 first-place votes. Louisiana-Lafayette was second with 81 points and the remaining first-place vote.
Two Jaguars on Preseason Team
Junior defender Nini Rabsatt-Smith and sophomore midfielder Monique Autmon were selected to the preseason all-conference team.
Rabsatt-Smith was named to the 2013 Sun Belt All-Tournament team after helping the South Alabama defense allow one goal in 290 minutes of tournament play. She made 21 starts last season and finished with two goals, four assists and eight points.
Autmon appeared in all 23 matches as a freshman, starting 21. She tied for fifth on the team with three goals, two of which came against Sun Belt opponents.
Coming Off a Historic Season
South Alabama won its first Sun Belt Tournament title last season, earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth. That season ended with a 5-0 loss at Florida State in the NCAA first round. The Jaguars ranked second in the conference in shutouts with nine and in goals-against average at 1.01.
Graham Winkworth enters his second season as South Alabama’s head coach. Rabsatt-Smith and Autmon are among the returning contributors from the team that captured the program’s first conference tournament crown.
Season Opener Friday
South Alabama opens the 2014 season Friday at home against UAB. The Jaguars play home matches at The Cage on the university’s Mobile campus.
