BOONE, N.C. — After maintaining a Road Warrior mentality through the start of the 2016 season, Appalachian State University men's soccer plays its final of a four-match road stretch before finally seeing the pitch at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex for the Mountaineers' home opener.
The Mountaineers (0-3) will play at Marshall on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. before coming home to host USC Upstate on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
Leading Appalachian so far this season on the offensive end has been Jordan Melia and Stephen Chapman. Melia has one goal on the season off the assist by Chapman. Plenty of Mountaineers have gotten great looks at the goal this season, but tough goalkeepers have for now kept them off the scoreboard. Melia leads with four shots, while Cooper Coughlin, Chapman and Daniel Avila are just behind him with two each.
In goal so far this season has been mostly Jake Chasteen. Chasteen has played 233 minutes so far, getting 14 saves on 47 shots faced – good for third in the league in saves.
Thrashing the Thundering Herd
The Marshall Thundering Herd are coming into this game 2-2-0, with key wins against Detroit and Eastern Illinois. Marshall finished last season 8-9-2 overall and 2-5-1 in play against Conference USA.
The Thundering Herd will be glad to be returning home after a two-match road trip where they went 2-1. So far, the team is ranking fourth in C-USA in goals (five) and fifth in points (14), assists (four) and saves (eight).
Leading the Herd on the charge individually this season has been Paul Whitener, Trevor Starcher, Daniel Jodah and Carlos Diaz-Salcedo with one goal each. Whitener also has two assists so far this season while Starcher has one.
Putting the majority of the time in the net for Marshall this year has been Nate Himes at 270 minutes. In that time, Himes has made six saves and allowed six goals in three games. Also in the net for the Herd this season is Trever Clemens. Clemens played a full 90 earlier this season, making one save and getting the lone shutout so far for Marshall this season.
The Thundering Herd have been one of the more often played non-conference teams for the Mountaineers. App State has faced them 24 times and currently own a 17-3-4 record against Marshall. The last time these two teams met was in 2014 when the Black and Gold got the 2-0 win on the road.
Spearing the Spartans
The USC Upstate Spartans (1-1) are entering a new era this year after finishing 7-7-1 and 1-3-1 in the ASUN Conference last season.
With 19 newcomers putting on Spartan jerseys for the first time this year, USC Upstate will look to replace Leon Schwarzer and Gordon Wild on the attack after they graduated. Wild finished with 16 goals and two assists last season while Schwarzer ended with nine goals and six assists. The team will also be looking to replace their starting goalkeeper in Hassan Haddad.
So far this season, Cam Philpot has looked strong on the offensive side of the field, scoring one goal off a Rinaldi Alphonse assist in the two matches. Leading them in shots are Philpot and Alphonse (four) and Morten Timm, Lennart Gruetzmacher and Hamilton Gmah (three).
One of only five starters returning this season is Michelangelo Dividio. Last season, Dividio had three goals and an assist. Through two games, Dividio hasn't exploded yet, only having two shots, but he will certainly be a veteran to watch.
USC Upstate has yet to decide on a permanent goalkeeper, still weighing between two tough keepers in Santiago Restrepo and Davis Smith. Each has played a full 90 this season, with Smith leading with four saves, one goal allowed off nine shots faced. Restrepo has only two saves, but has yet to allow a goal with his one game this year being a shutout.
The Mountaineers have faced off against the Spartans three times in program history. Appalachian currently owns a 1-0-2 record with the last matchup coming in 2014 when the Black and Gold got added to the win column, taking down USC Upstate 3-1.
Notes
Senior forward Chapman was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team after being named first-team all-conference at the end of last season ... 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 ... head coach Jason O'Keefe is entering his first season at the helm of the program ... O'Keefe previously was an assistant coach at North Carolina ... the Mountaineers face a five-match road trip to open up the 2016 season before returning for their home opener against USC Upstate on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
