ONEONTA, N.Y. — Appalachian State University men's soccer battled hard against first-ranked conference foe Hartwick, going to double overtime to hold them to a 0-0 draw on Saturday afternoon at Elmore Field.
"Really great team effort today versus a very good Hartwick team," head coach Jason O'Keefe said. "I can see why they are the two-time defending champion. We bent a few times but never broke, which is what we have been doing now for our last eight games. We will recover, get back to Boone and get ready for Coastal Carolina on Wednesday. We hope everyone comes out to pack the Mack and continues to be that 12th man for the team as they've done all season."
With the draw, the Mountaineers (4-5-3, 1-0-1 Sun Belt) continue their hot streak of six-straight unbeaten matches and improve to 4-1-3 since their first win of the season on Sept. 13. Appalachian held the Hawks (7-1-3, 1-0-1 Sun Belt) scoreless for the first time this season en route to their third draw of the year.
Since the Sun Belt Conference reintroduced men's soccer to the league, Appalachian remains one of only two conference teams to push Hartwick to non-victories. Georgia Southern defeated the Hawks in 2014 and App State has tied them twice.
With his third-straight shutout, freshman goalkeeper and reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week Jake Agnew faced 17 shots overall and made a career-high eight saves (doubling his previous career high) to remain unbeaten in his career as well, stretching his record to 3-0-3. The goalkeeper has now played 310 minutes straight without allowing a goal.
In the offensive third of the field, Appalachian put a huge amount of pressure on Hartwick's goalkeeper from the very beginning. Freshman Graham Smalley led the team with three shots, while seniors Stephen Chapman and Ben Steen had two shots with one of Steen's coming on goal.
Rounding out the attack effort, junior Cooper Coughlin had one shot on goal with senior Jordan Melia and sophomore Raheem Somersall having one shot total.
Overall in this 4-1-3 streak, the Mountaineers have carried strong second-half-of-the-season rhythm into the first two matches of conference. Appalachian has scored 10 goals since the win off six assists, totaling 102 shots (38 on goal – .373). The Black and Gold are also still outshooting opponents 102-78.
The Mountaineers will now return home to continue Sun Belt Conference play, hosting Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.
