University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Troy
Soccer Heads to Troy for Thursday Night Match Up
9/20/2023 2:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer
HATTIESBURG, Miss.-- The Southern Miss Soccer team (3-4-1, 0-0-1 SBC) continues conference play on the road against Troy (5-4-0, 0-1-0 SBC) in Troy, Ala. Thursday night.
Southern Miss leads the all-time series record 2-0-2, with matches dating back to 1997. These two programs met last season in Hattiesburg, where they tied 1-1. Their lone tie did not go into double overtime.
Last time out: The Southern Miss Soccer team drew a scoreless tie against preseason favorite South Alabama Sunday afternoon at the Southern Miss Soccer Complex.
Both teams had only two shots in the first half, and South Alabama couldn't penetrate the Southern Miss defense. In the second half, the score remained 0-0, a significant improvement from their previous encounter last year, where Southern Miss was trailing 3-0 at this stage. This game marked the first-ever tie between Southern Miss and South Alabama, and it was the third time in a row that Southern Miss prevented South Alabama from scoring in Hattiesburg. Alex Helbling secured her second clean sheet of the season, making four crucial saves out of nine shots faced. Chloe Taylor and Rebecca Vega were the main offensive contributors, with three shots, two of which were on target.
This marked the second consecutive Sunday Southern Miss kept their opponents from scoring; additionally, Southern Miss now had back-to-back seasons where their home conference play ended in a scoreless tie, as they had tied James Madison in the SBC home opener last season.
Scouting Troy: Heading into Thursday's match, Troy holds a 5-4 overall record and a 0-1 record in conference play, having suffered a 1-0 defeat to App State in their conference opener in Boone, North Carolina. Troy managed only five shots with just one on target, credited to Jordan Stack. However, they improved in the second half, outshooting App State 4-3. The game's only goal came from App State in the 50th minute, with Izzi Wood finding the net following a corner kick by Shannon Studer. Stephenie Pereff, the Troy keeper, made one save during her 82 minutes of play before freshman Rubie Kelley took over for the remaining 7 minutes and 49 seconds.
Preseason predictions had placed the Trojans at the bottom of the rankings in the coaches poll, and they have yet to secure any offensive or defensive player of the week honors this season. Senior midfielder Gabrielle Chartier is leading the Trojans in multiple offensive categories, including points (9), goals (4), shots (16), and shots on goal (9). Chartier also shares the honor of game-winning goals with four other players.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Troy Soccer Complex. Live stats will be available here, and the matchup will be streamed on ESPN+.
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