Women's Soccer Hosts High Point in Season Opener

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's soccer will begin the 24th season in program history when it hosts High Point on Friday at 4 p.m. at Ted Mackorell Soccer Stadium.

@appstatewsoccer vs. @HPUWSoccer1999 | Friday, Aug. 18 | 4 p.m. | Ted Mack | Boone, N.C.
Live Stats | Live Stream (FREE)

About the Mountaineers
It's season eight for head coach Sarah Strickland after the Mountaineers are coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 12-13 seasons. App finished last season with a 10-8-2 mark overall and a 5-4-2 record in league play. The Black and Gold advanced to the Sun Belt Quarterfinals with a win over Louisiana before falling to top seed South Alabama. The Mountaineers return seven starters and 14 letterwinners while 13 newcomers are making their debut for App. The Mountaineers will look for multiple student-athletes for offense after the departure of the Sun Belt Offensive Athlete of the Year, Jane Cline, who scored 11 goals. Erin Settle (7), Morgan Mosack (2) and Sarah Peatross (2) all return after notching more than one goal in 2016. Sam Steyl, Taylor Ray and Lauren Burke will look to keep the ball out of the net this season.

Season Openers
The Mountaineers are 9-12-2 all-time in season openers and have won their last four matches to start the season. Appalachian has outscored its opponents 11-4 in those contests, including its 3-1 win over Northern Kentucky at home to kickoff the 2016 campaign. Under Strickland, the Mountaineers are 4-3 in seven season-opening
matches.

Scouting High Point (0-0)
High Point went 13-6-2 and 7-1-1 in the Big South Conference, while advancing to the Big South Tournament Finals before falling to Liberty. The Panthers return eight starters and 24 letterwinners from that squad, including goalkeeper and the Big South's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in Alex Hank.  The Panthers also return six other Big South all-conference selections. 

Series History
App and HPU are tied in the all-time series at 3-all after the Panthers picked up a 2-0 win over the Black and Gold last season.