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Southern Miss vs. Samford-Jacksonvillve State Game Notes

Soccer Continues Road Streak At Samford And Jacksonville State

Senior Micah Stephens leads the team with five goals, three assists and 13 points this season.

HATTIESBURG, Miss.— The Southern Miss Lady Eagle soccer team hits the road again this weekend, for a 7 p.m., Friday match at Samford and a 1 p.m., match at Jacksonville State on Sunday.

The matches mark the fourth and fifth consecutive road contest for the Lady Eagles, who haven’t played a home match since opening their season with a 5-2 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Aug. 26. The team will not play a home match in September, as the team’s only contest in the month, Sept. 9 against North Florida, was cancelled due to Hurricane Katrina.

On Friday, Southern Miss and Samford meet for the fifth time in school history, with the Lady Eagles holding a 4-0 series advantage, including a 5-1 victory and 1-0 victory in Birmingham in 1997 and 2003 respectively. Southern Miss and Jacksonville State meet for the first time in school history on Sunday.

Southern Miss, under the guidance of second-year head coach Gail Macklin, enters the weekend with a 3-0-1 record, and is coming off a 0-0 double-overtime tie at Centenary on Sept. 11.

The Lady Eagles currently rank sixth nationally in scoring offense, averaging four goal a contest. The team is also tied for 19^th in win percentage (.875).

So far in 2005, Southern Miss has scored 16 goals on 86 shots, with 41 shots on goals. The team averages four goals per contest and averages 21.5 shots a match.

Senior Micah Stephens leads the team with five goals, three assists, 13 points and two game-winning goals. She currently is tied for 10^th nationally in points per match (3.25) and is tied for 13^th in goals per match (1.33). The Alvarado, Texas native, one of Conference USA’s Players to Watch in 2005, is having a career best season, and posted her first career hat trick against Mississippi Valley State (9/2).

Juniors Carly Barkley, Kim Turner and freshman Sarah McFadden each have three goals on the season, one each in the team’s first three matches. Junior Sarah Brennan also has two goals on the season, while Barkley, senior Katie McClary and junior Andrea Kerkhoff each have single assists on the season.

Freshman goalkeeper Holly Cox leads the team with nine saves. She posted her first career shutout against Murray State, a 3-0 victory. Freshman Christina Duvall made her first career start against Centenary, and posted her first career shutout, a 0-0 double-overtime tie. The duo became the first Southern Miss goalkeepers to post back-to-back shutouts since Leslie Schoeplein and Anna Snyder shut out Stetson and Tennessee-Martin respectively in back-to-back matches last season.

Samford enters Friday’s match with a 4-0-2 record. The team has scored nine goals in 61 shots, with 38 coming on goal. The team averages 1.40 goals a match and takes 10.2 shots per contest.

Heather Birdsel leads Samford with three goals, eight points and 15 shots on the season, while Rebecca Bohler leads the squad with three assists.

Goalkeeper Emily Morris leads the team with 21 saves and three shutouts.

Jacksonville State enters the weekend with a 1-4-1 record. The team has scored seven goals in 54 attempts. Jacksonvillle State averages 1.11 goals per match and takes nine shots per contest.

Courtney Moore leads the team with three goals and seven points, while Joanna McCaughey has two goals. Moore, Daniela Malta and Jessica Scerbo each have single assists on the season.

Goalkeeper Kate Kelly leads the team with 27 saves on the season.

Following the weekend’s matches, Southern Miss plays at Louisiana Tech at 1 p.m., on Sept. 25, in its last regular-season non-conference match.