Soccer Holds South Alabama to Scoreless Draw in Conference Opener

Sunday, September 17

Hattiesburg, Miss.

1 p.m.

Southern Miss

3-4-1, 0-0-1

South Alabama

7-0-2, 0-0-1

South Alabama

Southern Miss.

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Soccer Holds South Alabama to Scoreless Draw in Conference Opener

9/17/2023 5:07:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HATTIESBURG, Miss.--The Southern Miss Soccer team (3-4-1, 0-0-1 SBC) drew a scoreless tie against preseason favorite South Alabama (7-0-2, 0-0-1 SBC) Sunday afternoon at the Southern Miss Soccer Complex.

"Today's game was a massive and mature performance from the ladies showed their ability to adapt, and we just look ahead to our next conference match-up against Troy," said coach El-Zare.

The first half saw both teams taking just two shots each, with South Alabama failing to break through the Southern Miss defense. Remarkably, South Alabama had managed to score in the first half of every game this season except for their encounter with Mississippi State on Sep. 7.

As the second half kicked off, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0, a significant improvement compared to the previous encounter last year, where the Black and Gold trailed 3-0 at this stage.

This first ever tie against South Alabama marked the third consecutive time Southern Miss successfully prevented the Jags from scoring in Hattiesburg. In the past two meetings at home, Southern Miss has won 1-0, and the scoreless draw today.

Alex Helbling recorded her second clean sheet of the season by facing nine shots and making four crucial saves. Offensively, Chloe Taylor and Rebecca Vega were the primary contributors, mustering a total of three shots, with two on target. The teams also played a physical match that saw 17 fouls, including four yellow cards.

Notables:

For the second straight Sunday, Southern Miss has held their opponents scoreless.
The Golden Eagles have not allowed a second-half goal at home this season.
This is the first time the Black and Gold have held opponents scoreless in back-to-back matches since 9/3/21, with a 2-0 victory over Little Rock and 9/5/21 a 6-0 win over Jackson State.

Up Next: The Southern Miss Soccer team will continue conference play on the road as they will face off with Troy on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Troy Soccer Complex. The event will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available.

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