BOONE, N.C. — Senior Jane Cline earned Sun Belt Offensive Player of Week honors for her performance in the Appalachian State University women's soccer wins this weekend, the league announced on Tuesday afternoon.
“I'm so happy for Jane,” head coach Sarah Strickland said. “This is a well-deserved honor and truly is recognition not just for Jane but for our entire offense. To begin and end the season with offensive player of the week awards, it's pretty incredible and I'm grateful for all of those that supported Jane's nomination.”
The Mountaineers headed into this past weekend needing two wins in order to clinch a Sun Belt tournament berth and Cline stepped up in her final games at home, scoring three goals (two game-winning goals) to push Appalachian State past UL Lafayette and regular-season Sun Belt champions South Alabama.
Cline's goal against UL Lafayette came in the 36th minute during brutal weather conditions when she received the ball at the top of the box from Morgan Mosack on the left side. Cline turned and fired it to the top left corner to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead.
Sunday's Senior Day matchup with South Alabama would prove to be a wild back-and-forth affair, featuring a combined seven goals in two overtimes. After the Jaguars put themselves up 1-0 in the first minute of action, Cline broke free in the 3rd minute where Jackie Nieradka was able to flick the ball forward. The goalkeeper came out to meet Cline one-on-one but with a move to the right side was able to knock the ball into an empty net to equalize the game.
Then, 107 minutes later and the Mountaineers found themselves heading toward a tie at the end of the second overtime. But then, with the clock winding down, Cline once again broke free forward and Nieradka once again placed a great ball ahead where Cline was able to score the golden goal with 15 seconds remaining.
Cline's effort this weekend put her at 11 goals for the year, which is tied for first all-time in program history for a single season, while she also set a new program high for shots in a season (84). She's also now second in program history for points in a season (24). Heading into the tournament, Cline currently leads the Sun Belt in shots, points, goals and game-winning goals (five).
Appalachian State women's soccer will carry a three-match win streak (four victories in last five) into an off week before it heads to Foley, Ala. for its Sun Belt tournament first round opponent, UL Lafayette. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. ET and all Sun Belt tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and available on the WatchESPN app.
