TROY, Ala. — Seven different players scored as South Alabama soccer beat Tennessee-Martin 7-0 on Sunday at the Troy Soccer Complex, giving the Jaguars the first 4-0 start in program history.
South Alabama is also unbeaten in its last 22 regular-season matches, going 21-0-1 over that span.
Fast Start
Junior Monique Autmon and freshman Jemma Purfield each finished with a goal and an assist.
Autmon opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Forty-six seconds later she set up the second goal, as Rio Hardy put home a rebound off the goalkeeper in the 10th minute.
Hannah Godfrey made it 3-0 in the 28th minute on an assist from Nini Rabsatt-Smith. Charde Hannah converted a penalty kick in the 52nd minute for her third goal of the season.
Three Goals in Seven Minutes
South Alabama added three goals from three different players in a seven-minute stretch midway through the second half.
Purfield scored off her own rebound in the 59th minute. In the 63rd minute, Jordan Duncan scored on a Purfield assist. Danielle Henley closed the scoring in the 66th minute, finishing a low driven cross from Alyssa Mayer.
Second Straight Clean Sheet
Junior goalkeeper Sarah Hay made six saves in 90 minutes. UT Martin managed three shots in each half as South Alabama posted its second consecutive shutout.
The Jaguars took a season-high 23 shots from 10 different players.
Winkworth Praises Patience
“I’m really happy with the performance today,” South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said. “We put in a better performance than Friday night and were patient with our play. Today we moved the ball around exceptionally well, created a lot of chances and got a lot of players forward. The seven different goal scorers emphasizes the way in which we played today but also the quality of our whole squad.”
“We probably could’ve had more shots but we were patient in our shooting; we weren’t taking a lot of shots from distance,” Winkworth said. “A lot of those shots were from very close range and some of those goals were tap-ins because of the creativity in the play leading up to the goal. This is the first time that I think we’ve really put some quality football together in the final third.”
Winkworth also credited the back line.
“All weekend we’ve looked extremely solid defensively,” he said. “Steffi (Hardy) has led the back line extremely well in the middle and Hannah has been very solid. Jemma has done a great job getting forward, and Alyssa (Mayer) and Nikki (Shirtcliffe) have done well too. We’ve got a lot of quality and defended well all weekend.”
“There’s no letting off and players were coming in off the bench and not only do they want to put in a good performance for the team but they want to make a claim for a starting position and more playing time for themselves,” Winkworth said. “Today was no different. We had a lot of quality performances from front to back all over the pitch.”
Home Weekend Ahead
South Alabama hosts a four-team weekend with Austin Peay, South Florida and Troy. On Friday, Sept. 4, Troy plays Austin Peay at 4 p.m., followed by South Alabama against South Florida at 7 p.m. On Sunday, Troy faces South Florida at noon, and South Alabama meets Austin Peay at 2:30 p.m.
