TROY, Ala. – University of South Alabama senior Rio Hardy scored a pair of goals, including the match winner in double overtime to give the Jaguars a 2-1 victory at Troy Sunday afternoon at the Troy Soccer complex.
The Jags go to 7-4-1 overall and 5-0 in the Sun Belt Conference, and remain unbeaten in their last eight outings. The Trojans fall to 4-8-2 and 2-3.
GAME FACTS
-South Alabama recorded the first five shots of the contest, but none of them hit the target
-Troy opened the scoring at 23:09 after Maddie Bruce put home a ball that rebounded off the post
-It took less than two minutes for the Jaguars to answer – Rio Hardy took a throw-in from freshman Deanna Green, turned on her defender and beat the Troy goalkeeper in the upper-right corner at 25:06
-The only two shots on net in the first half for both teams were goals
-Troy rattled the crossbar on a header off a corner kick at 70:12 but it stayed out, and a follow-up attempt went over
-Hardy tried to break the deadlock but her shot at 75:57 was kept out thanks to a diving save from Troy's Haleigh Mercer
-Senior Tiina Trutsi was one-on-one with Mercer at 87:44 but both of her shots were saved
-Hardy had a free kick from 25 yards out six minutes into the first overtime, but Mercer answered the call again, going to the ground to make the save
-Troy's Lauren Aldrich had a short-range header at 97:53 but it went straight to USA goalkeeper Justice Stanford
-Sophomore Kory Dixon fed Trutsi into space, but Trutsi's attempt went off the left post and Hardy roofed the loose ball from about four yards out to end the contest
-USA outshot Troy 17-9 on the afternoon, including 4-1 in the two extra frames
-Stanford made two saves for the Jags, and Mercer made six stops while allowing one goal for the Trojans
-Hardy, Trutsi and senior Danielle Henley combined for 14 of the team's 17 shots, and all eight of the Jags' shots on goal
NOTES
-Today was the first overtime game in the series since 2012 – Troy was 2-0 in OT games prior to today
-Hardy has matched her season goal total from 2016 with eight, and is four shy of her career high of 12 set in 2014
-Hardy has five goals in her last three games – that's her highest three-game goal total of her career
-Hardy recorded her third brace of the season, and seventh of her career
-USA is 5-0 in Sun Belt play for the second time in school history (2015)
-The Jaguars are 34-5-2 in conference games in the last four seasons
-The last 13 games in the series have been decided one goal or fewer – it was the sixth time during that span the scoreline was 2-1
-USA is 4-3 in one-goal games this season after starting the year 0-3
-Hardy is currently tied for second with teammate Chardé Hannah in school history with 11 career game-winning goals and 35 career goals
-Hardy also moved into fourth at South Alabama in career points (83)
-The Jaguars failed to score first for just the second time in the last 10 contests, but the team has outshot the opposition nine times in that same time period
-South Alabama is 2-0-1 in overtime this season after going 0-3-1 a season ago
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richard Moodie
On USA getting a win over its rival: "It's a great feeling and I'm sure it feels familiar for these girls.