JACKSONVILLE – Senior Alicia Pallister connected on a breakaway goal to lift Jacksonville State past SIU Edwardsville, 2-1, on Tuesday afternoon at the JSU Soccer Field.

The Gamecocks wrapped up the spring season at 4-5-1 against Ohio Valley Conference competition and recorded the final win of their tenure in the OVC. Jax State will shift to the ASUN for the fall season. The four league wins is the most for the program since the 2015 season in which it collected five wins against the league. SIUE concluded the regular season at 6-2-2 and will await its seeding for the OVC Soccer Championship in Murray, Kentucky. JSU has knocked off the top-two teams in the OVC this season, league champion Murray State and SIUE.

Pallister bolstered her case for postseason honors with her game-winning goal in the 76th minute. Pallister broke away from a crowd at midfield after a an SIUE threat and beat the Cougar defender and goalkeeper for her fourth goal of the season. The Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada native was a factor in JSU's opening goal in the first half. Pallister's corner kick was successfully headed into the back of the net by redshirt freshman Ida Cederberg in the 11th minute. It was Cederberg's third goal of the season and should be a viable candidate for newcomer honors within the OVC.

Pallister's assist was her ninth of the season and is the conference leader in assists. She now ranks second all-time at JSU for assists in a single season. Former Gamecock Megan Steinebach recorded 10 assists during the 1997 season.

"She has been brilliant all year and I think she is one of the best offensive players in the conference," said head coach Neil Macdonald. "Her decision making is fantastic and she is great in the final third of the field. She has had an unbelievable season and she is the type of player that you could train her at any position on the field and she will be good at it – that is how good she is."

JSU and SIUE, the top-two offensive teams in the OVC, combined for 23 shots on the day with JSU holding a plus-three advantage in total shots with 13 in the contest. Pallister led all players with five shots on the day with four on-goal scoring chances. Sophomore Cynthia Bagozzi added three shots, while junior Ali Thomas posted a pair of looks at the goal.

"I really believe that we are one of the best soccer teams in the league when you talk about playing the game offensively," added Macdonald. "I am very proud of how we went about this season and we have never taken the foot off the gas and competed really well. It is exciting that we are so young and the future looks bright. I think in any normal year, we would be going to the tournament and I don't think anyone would want to play us in the tournament."

The program will now turn its attention to the offseason and preparing to play in a different league as JSU moves to the ASUN.

"We will give them a break and then its right back at it. We switched our system to a 3-5-2 and the reality of it is we have a lot of work to do in it because it is new to us. The girls have done a really great job in it with limited coaching in it because the way the season was set it, the training session had to be really lite to keep their feet under them."

The 2021 fall schedule and ASUN slate will be announced at a later date.