HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss Soccer (3-6-4, 2-2-4 Sun Belt) overwhelmed Louisiana (6-4-8, 1-3-4 Sun Belt) 4-1 Thursday afternoon in its final home match, powering the team into contention to make the Sun Belt Tournament with two games remaining in the regular season.

Entering the match tied with Louisiana in conference standings, the Golden Eagles surged from ninth place to claim the seventh spot, which would currently put Southern Miss in a position among the top eight teams eligible to compete in Foley, Ala. next month.

“I am extremely proud with this young team and how they continue to battle, fight, and be coachable,” head coach Mohammed El-Zare said. “That’s something that really excites me about this team, but [it’s] also the leadership of Adaira Nakano, Alice Williamson and Ryan Smith, even though she’s out, how she leads on the bench. The energy with the players on the bench and how positive and encouraging they are, and then the players coming in that helped us to contribute and get this result — it was a collective effort.”

Supported by a complete team performance, the Golden Eagles were led by the efforts of sophomores Rebeka Vega and Shaelynn Quick, who recorded their first career braces. The duo became the first pair to score two goals in the same game since Ariel Diaz and Illana Izquierdo did so on Aug. 26, 2021, against Nicholls. 

The Golden Eagles’ four goals matched the most in a conference match since joining the Sun Belt and the most since September 19, 2021, in a 4-2 win over Marshall. 

Vega, who missed the first four games of the season while representing Venezuela at the 2024 FIFA U-20 World Cup, has quickly found her rhythm, tying Adaira Nakano for the team lead with five goals. The forward, a product of Ascension Episcopal High School in Lafayette, La., has scored four goals in the last four games.

“She had not had a day off in 37 days when she got back from the World Cup, so we’ve been managing her and she’s slowly coming back to what we know Rebeka can do. I’m really happy on that side and she played in multiple forward positions for us,” El-Zare said.

Vega capitalized on her first opportunity from a Louisiana foul inside the box, converting a penalty kick in the 30th minute to give Southern Miss the lead in a contested first half. 

In the first period, both teams shot the ball for a combined 17 shots, with Southern Miss senior goalkeeper Kesaia Bruni recording five of her season-high six saves in the half. 

Quick struck five minutes into the second period with her first goal since the season-opener, sending the ball directly into the net from her corner kick.

Freshman Raquelle Mitchell continued the momentum on the attack for the Golden Eagles, crossing the ball for an assist to Vega’s second goal, which gave Southern Miss a 3-0 advantage.

While the Ragin’ Cajuns answered back shortly with a goal of their own from Briana Henry, Quick found another deep opportunity, powering a shot from outside of the box into the upper right corner of the goal for the Golden Eagles’ final goal.

“Everybody wants a Shae on their team,” El-Zare said. “That kid is selfless, hard working and has a team-first mentality. We’ve made some adjustments in how we can get her involved in our attack and for her to be rewarded with two awesome goals is just a reward of the hard work that she’s put in, but also for the teammates that put her into those situations to score.”

After setting a program record with three consecutive ties, Southern Miss has now secured back-to-back home conference victories, outscoring their opponents by a combined 6-1. 

The game marked the first time Southern Miss has scored multiple goals in four straight conference matches since 2000, signaling a turning point from when the team endured a four-game scoreless streak earlier this season. The Golden Eagles have now scored 14 goals in conference play, which rank as the third most in the Sun Belt.

The Golden Eagles had never won by more than a one-goal differential in a Sun Belt home match since joining the conference in 2022, but have accomplished that feat in back-to-back games to close their home slate this season.

“We’ve always believed this team can play and that they had the talent. For us, it’s just focusing one game at a time, focusing on us and getting better, and focusing on showing up and putting in an honest day’s worth of work,” El-Zare said. 

Southern Miss now looks to carry momentum into its final two games of the regular season in order to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament. The team will have to face ULM and Georgia Southern, who both trail the Golden Eagles by a game, to secure a spot in the tournament.