BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University field hockey slipped to future MAC foe Missouri State 2-0 in their last home match of the year Thursday evening on the Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field.

The first half started off slow with limited looks towards the net. Both teams were out-of-sync and were trying to gain some momentum. Then in the 18th minute, the MSU Bears (3-11, 1-4 MAC) found their rhythm when Bianca Mills dished out a cross pass in front of the net to Miranda Sherman to set up MSU's first goal of the evening. After that connection, both teams continued to attack the net, but no shots were able to find the right opening inside the cage before the end of the half.

Despite being down one goal, the Mountaineers (1-13) controlled most of the half on the Bears' side of the turf and created more offensive plays. App State outshot Missouri State 8-4 (3-2 SOG) and was awarded all of the penalty corners in the first 35 minutes of play (four).

The speed of the second half mirrored the start of the first with both teams struggling to strike up big plays to score until Andrea Soler Codina of MSU slid the perfect pass to Daelynn De Mello to extend the Bears' lead to 2-0. 

Determined to shrink the MAC team's two-goal advantage, the Mountaineers turned up the dial and whaled 11 shots with four on goal, and earned six penalty corners. Although Appalachian was presented with many scoring opportunities, nothing would fall through for the home team, and the visitors stole the match 2-0.

Offense

App State dominated the offensive stats and held the advantage in shots (19-9) and penalty corners (10-0), but both teams pressured the goalkeepers with seven shots on goal.

Jordan Van Cleave led the offensive charge darting out seven shots with two on goal. The next best Mountaineer on the prow was Rebecca McLean with three shots and two shots on goal.

At Net

Rachel Gaines had another great home showing protecting the net batting away five Bear attacks in 70:00 minutes. Gaines now owns 95 saves on the season.

Up Next

The Black and Gold will roll down to Winston-Salem to take on No. 18  Wake Forest Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at Kentner Stadium.