BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University men's soccer will look to continue its recent hot streak this week as it squares off against two big Sun Belt Conference foes at Hartwick (Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.) and at home versus Coastal Carolina (Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.).

The Mountaineers (4-5-2 (1-0 Sun Belt)) have found their groove on both sides of the field since their first win on Sept. 13 (USC Upstate). Since then, App State has gone 4-1-2 and is 3-0-2 in their last five – the second longest unbeaten streak currently in the Sun Belt.

The offense has been firing on all cylinders too, with Appalachian outshooting teams 92-61 (36-31 on goal) and having 10 goals off six assists in the stretch of wins.

The effort offensively has been largely by committee as well. Seniors Stephen Chapman and Jordan Melia are leading the team in shots with 20 apiece, while those two are also leading the team in points with 12 and five, respectively. With two goals last week against Howard, Chapman solidified his lead on goals, upping his season total to five – good for third in the conference. Melia and junior Rian Phillips have two goals on the season while sophomore Raheem Somersall and freshman Graham Smalley have one each.

Sophomore Daniel Avila also joins Chapman at the top of the assist charts with both of them having two on the year, while sophomore Ian Bennett, Smalley and Melia all have one.

Goalkeeper Jake Agnew was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for his continued presence between the frames. The freshman was chosen to start his first collegiate match in the goal on Sept. 20 and since then has been an undefeated 3-0-2. In his five games starting, Agnew has made 14 saves and only allowed three goals, facing 40 total shots. Last week, he recorded the first clean sheets of his career in back-to-back games, holding Presbyterian College and Howard scoreless through a combined 200 minutes in the net.

Despite the Farmington, Minn.-native just beginning his college career, he already ranks as one of the best goalkeepers in the conference. Through his seven appearances, no one in the league has a better goals against average (GAA) by an impressive margin – his first-ranked 0.49 GAA is 0.15 lower than the next lowest. His GAA isn't just topping the Sun Belt, however, as it's also good for fifth-best in the nation as well.

Agnew is also ranked highly in his save percentage (.850), which is good enough to tie the top of the conference and rank 14th nationally and is also ranked tied-second in shutouts with two.

Stopping the Hawks

The Hartwick Hawks are entering the weekend contest 7-1-2 overall and are also 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Hawks so far this season have yet to lose a home contest, being 3-0-1, and are currently on a eight-match unbeaten streak – the only current streak longer than Appalachian. Their one Sun Belt win was against Coastal Carolina where they won 1-0 en route to them being ranked No. 5 in the NSCAA Southeast Poll.

Despite holding a record advantage over the league, as a team, Hartwick tends to gravitate toward the middle of the pack statistically. The Hawks are fourth in shots (141), third in points (56), goals (20) and assists (16) but are first in goals allowed (eight) and goals against average (0.74), with only having made 28 saves on the season – good for last in the Sun Belt.

Individually, Marc Berry and Johnny McBeth put teams on the defensive by firing up a lot of shoots, ranking fourth and seventh, respectively. But when it comes to putting the goal in the back of the net, Mike Rood (four goals, one assist) and Jamie O'Grady (three goals, two assists) are the main attackers. McBeth also has three goals.

On the playmaking side, leading the Sun Belt in assists is Jack Donaldson, who has four assists all season. O'Grady, Cameron Paton, Elliot Bentley and Hamish Ritchie also have two assists on the year. Kyle Honor and Rood also rank tied-first in the league with two game-winning goals apiece.

In the net this year is Lenny Wilson. Wilson is third in the league in goals against average with 0.87 after logging nearing 722 minutes. Having allowed  just seven goals in eight games, he has a save percentage of .750 – good for fifth. 

The Mountaineers are looking to avenge a tough 1-0 loss to Hartwick last year in the Sun Belt semifinals in Boone, N.C. In a close, hard-fought battle between the two teams that included a few yellow cards and neither team conceded an edge, Hartwick would finally get a goal in the 67th minute but not before Appalachian took them the distance.

Now Appalachian will take a Hartwick-owned 3-1-1 record to heart as they try to continue their recent hot streak and try to undo the three-match losing streak.

Chasing the Chanticleers

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers enter the weekend currently 4-5-2 and are 2-5 on road trips. The Chanticleers are coming off their first conference match as new members of the Sun Belt Conference where they lost 1-0 to Hartwick on Oct. 8 after taking No. 5 Clemson to two overtimes in a 0-0 draw.

Despite being new, Coastal has ranked toward the top of the stat leaders, currently second in shots (166), second in GAA (0.87), tied-first in shutouts (four) and first in corners (42). 

Individually, Martin Melchor and Frantzdy Pierrot rank well in shots at two (32) and six (24) while also being both tied for fifth in points with nine each. Melchor is fifth in goals with four while Pierrot is tied-seventh with three.  Where Pierrot is dangerous however is on the playmaking side. Only Hartwick's Donaldson has more assists than his three this season.

In the goal for the Chanticleers is Braulio Linares-Ortiz, who's logged 850 minutes and is second in GAA with 0.64. Linares-Ortiz is tied with Appalachian's Agnew at first in save percentage, both having a .850, while Linares-Ortiz is fourth in saves this season with 34 (3.78/game). The junior also leads the Sun Belt in shutouts (four) and shutouts per game (0.44).

The Mountaineers have faced off against Coastal Carolina three times in program history, but never as members of the same conference. Since their first meeting in 1986 (a 1-0 loss) and their last matchup played in Boone, the series is all tied up a 1-1-1. The two teams last met in 2011 when Coastal hosted the Coastal Carolina/Adidas Classic. Appalachian State won that game 1-0.

Notes

The Hartwick game (Oct. 15) will be a rematch of the 2015 Sun Belt Championship semifinal ... the then-No. 1 seed Hartwick took on then-No. 4 seed App State in a wild contest that featured two yellow cards and a standing-room-only crowd in Boone, N.C. ... the Hawks finally were able to find the back of the net in the 67th minute, winning 1-0, but not before a rivalry was born between the two teams ... after spending much of the nonconference schedule on the road, the Mountaineers return for a major October homestand, playing four of their five games in Boone ... The next four games will be against Sun Belt foes ... Chapman finally got on a roll against Howard after converting his fourth PK this season, the senior finally found an in-play goal in the 61st minute ... Appalachian has never won its Sun Belt opener before and now heads into Week 2 of conference play in an unfamiliar setting: 1-0 in the SBC ... Rian Phillips had a two-match streak (Davidson and UNC Asheville), having a goal in each and a game-winner in each  ... Jake Agnew was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 11 ... Chapman was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 27 ... Head coach Jason O'Keefe got his first career win as head coach of the Mountaineers on Sept. 13 when they downed USC Upstate 3-1 in their home opener ... O'Keefe previously was an assistant coach at North Carolina ... the Mountaineers were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll ... 15 Mountaineers hail from Appalachian's home state of North Carolina, while five come from outside the U.S. (Jeremy Tshongo - Western Australia; Raheem Somersall - Basseterre, St. Kitts; Jordan Melia - Manchester, England; Thibaut Arpinon - Nimes, France; Felix Kollmannthaler - Frankfurt, Germany) ... App State welcomes 13 newcomers this season, with eight of them being freshmen and the other five being transfers ... of the newcomers, two (Graham Smalley and Camden Harrison) have earned spots on the starting 11.