App State Falls to Texas State in Defensive Battle

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's soccer (6-5-1, 3-1-0 SBC) fell to Texas State (7-5-1, 5-0-1 SBC) in a 1-0 decision on Friday evening at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.

It was a defensive battle between the only undefeated teams in conference play and two of the top three scoring programs in the country. The only difference was the goal in the 69th minute of the game. 

Appalachian did have some great opportunities with five of its seven shots being on target including two by Kat Greer late in the second half. Emmily Cowie fed Greer inside the box at 79' before her attempt deflected off the goalkeeper's fingertips just enough to keep it out of the net. 

With the contest down to the last two minutes, her second shot attempt from just outside of the box was stopped. 

The game was kept scoreless for the first 68 minutes of the contest. Ray did a stellar job when Texas State sent five shot attempts in the first 34 minutes of the contest. 

Maggie Hanusek registered the Black and Gold's first strike at the net when she nearly gave App the lead with a SOG. Mary Perkins later fired off a shot from the left side of the box, but was stopped by Martin.

App State stuck to its gameplan and gave the league's top defense (12 goals allowed) and top keeper in Heather Martin all they could handle despite not getting a goal on the board. 

Taylor Ray played a solid game, as she posted at least five saves for the second straight game with six stops in 90 minutes. 

Appalachian will look to bounce back on Sunday against Louisiana on Senior Day at 12 p.m. The Mountaineers will recognize Ray, Alexa Asher, Jamie Palermo, Jessica Easley, Kat Greer, Sarah Murphy, Blair Anderes and Emmily Cowie.