Women's Soccer Blanks ULM with 3-0 Road Win

MONROE, La. - Appalachian State University women's soccer (8-7-1, 5-3 SBC) got back to its winning ways with a convincing 3-0 win over ULM (0-16, 0-9 SBC) on Friday afternoon at ULM Soccer Soccer Complex.

After scoring just one goal over the last four games (1-3), the offense got back on track for its fifth game with at least three goals. Appalachian is 7-0 this season when scoring multiple goals. 

"It was a great day for App State women's soccer," head coach Sarah Strickland said. "We added a couple more names to the list of young women that have finished opportunities this season, which is always exciting to witness."

The Mountaineers' 22 shot attempts is a season high while the 11 shots on goal tied a season best. 

App started aggressively on offense with four shots that were on frame in the first 22 minutes of the contest. Appalachian would capitalize in the 23rd minute when Mary Perkins shot over the goalkeeper's head for her second goal of the season, giving App the 1-0 lead. Kat Greer picked up her first assist of the season. 

After coming out of the half with a 1-0 edge, the Warhawks went on the attack with two early shots on goal, but Taylor Ray made three of her four saves in the first 25 minutes of the second half to keep the score at 1-0 in App's favor.

Giving the Black and Gold a commanding 2-0 lead was Amber Anderson in the 71st minute, who took a feed from the Maggie Hanusek in the right wing and struck a short shot in the right corner for her first career score. 

With App head 2-0, Audrey Emerson fired away on two straight shots before finding the back of the net with the assist from Molly Niewald for her first-career tally to up the lead to 3-0 and the eventual victory.

The Mountaineers are now a perfect 3-0 on the road in conference play and the defense helped pick up the Apps' first shutout on the road in league action.

"We had a total team defensive effort in the shutout," Strickland continued. "Consistency by Taylor Ray with clean saves and a goal-line save from Jamie Palermo was huge to secure the shutout. We are on our way to Jonesboro and will prepare for a huge Sun Belt match against Arkansas State on Sunday. 

Appalachian pulled away for the win and moved above .500. The Mountaineers will look to end the weekend at 2-0 when it faces Arkansas State at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.