MIAMI ? South Alabama broke open a tie game with two second-half goals inside of five minutes to defeat Florida International, 3-1, in Sun Belt Conference women's soccer action at University Park.
Freshman Nanna Rasmussen (Odense, Denmark) scored her fourth goal of the season for the Golden Panthers, who fell to 4-10 on the year and 2-6 in Sun Belt play in the team's final home match of the season. The Jaguars improved to 5-11 and 3-5 in conference.
Tiara Smith opened the scoring for USA with an unassisted strike in the 14th minute. After getting around the goalkeeper, Smith's first attempt on the open net was blocked, and yet her follow-up found the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
Sophomore Maria Gualdron (Miami, Fla./Felix Varela) nearly equalized in the 20th minute when her effort hit the crossbar. She would make up for it in the 34th minute when she found Rasmussen open 10 yards in front of goal before the Danish forward sent a shot into the upper right corner of the goal to send the match level at 1-1 going into the break. It was Gualdron's third assist of the season.
Jenn Edgar helped South Alabama put the game away early in the second half with a pair of assists. First she crossed to Samantha Stocker who found the back of the net from 10 yards out with a lot shot to the right corner in the 54th minute for her seventh goal of the season. In the 58th minute, Edgar passed back for Amanda Douglas who scored with a long, high curving shot from 30 yards out which caught the goalkeeper out of position.
FIU held an 11-9 edge in shots for the match and had eight corner kicks without conceding any to the Jaguars. Junior goalkeeper Madeline Gannon (Ft. Myers, Fla.) and USA keeper Kelsie Langford each made two saves in the match.
The Golden Panthers return to action Friday for a Sun Belt contest at Arkansas State at 4 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. matchup with Arkansas-Little Rock Sunday at 1 p.m.
