MOBILE, Ala. – Down by two goals at halftime, the Texas State women's soccer team nearly came back to tie the game in the second half but fell 2-1 to South Alabama at The Cage Friday night.
 
The Bobcats fell to 6-8-2 on the season and 3-4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Jaguars are now 10-4-1 overall and 5-2-0 in conference play. After the other two league matches tonight, Texas State is in a five-way tie for fourth in the standings.
 
USA found the back of the net midway through the 18th minute. Jemma Purfield sent a long ball forward and Ashlynn Jones was able to beat a Bobcat defender to the ball from the left side of the goal. She sent her shot high into the upper right portion of the net for the score.
 
The Jaguars struck again in the 39th minute to take a 2-0 lead when Caroline Torrens knocked in a rebound after Hannah Godfrey's shot was blocked by a Bobcat defender from going in initially off a corner kick.
 
In the 55th minute, Lauren Prater was chasing down a long through ball that was sent into the penalty box. She was knocked down by a USA defender but the ref decided not to blow her whistle that would have awarded Texas State a penalty kick and chance to cut the deficit in half.
 
A long through ball from Jamie Brown was run down by Prater early in the 77th minute. The senior slotted the ball low past the charging goalkeeper to cut the Jaguars' lead to 2-1. The goal was the third of the season for Prater and the assist was the first of Brown's career.
 
With almost two minutes left to play in the game, Brooke Ramsey sent in a corner kick. The ball was knocked down and passed to Prater, who was positioned close to the right post. She turned and fired a shot but the ball sailed over the crossbar.
 
The Bobcats were outshot 17-7 and 10-1 on shots on goal. Prater took a game-high four shots. Kassi Hormuth, Jordan Kondikoff and Clarissa Leon all had a shot attempt.
 
In goal, Heather Martin made seven saves on the night. It was her fourth game this season, all against SBC opponents, with seven or more stops.
 
Next up for Texas State is a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday at Troy. The Trojans are still ninth in the conference standings with eight points after falling 2-0 to Coastal Carolina tonight at home.
 
For the latest information on the Texas State soccer team, visit the official website of Texas State Athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, like on Facebook at Texas State Soccer and follow on Twitter at @TxStateSoccer.