BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer (6-2-2, 0-0-1 SBC) and Georgia State (6-3-1, 0-0-1 SBC) fought to a 0-0 draw in the Sun Belt opener on Saturday evening at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.
In a matchup between the top two defenses and the top two goalkeepers in the Sun Belt in
Jake Chasteen and Paul Tyson, neither disappointed.
Appalachian earned its fifth shutout of the season, which is a league best after this evening. It's also the second straight year the contest between the two foes ended in a 0-0 tie.
"Great team effort tonight," head coach
Jason O'Keefe said. "Anytime you can get a shutout in the league, it's good. I though we had the best two chances in the game and know our guys will and have finished those, which is why we have had such a great start."
Appalachian did have its chances for the goal it needed with three shots on goal, two of which came in the second period.
Camden Holbrook tallied two attempts that were on target. He had an opportunity to give the Black and Gold the early 1-0 lead at 11', but Paul came away with the save.
Georgia State had two shots on goal. Chasteen continued his stellar play with a pair of saves in the opening stanza, stopping shot attempts by Hannes Burmeister and Max Hemmings.
In the second period,
Reed Hunnicutt fired a shot from just outside the box but couldn't convert. App also had a couple chances with two
Zeiko Harris headers, but both were just wide of the net.
In the 87th minute, Holbrook had an open shot inside the box, but the deflection by Paul kept the score at 0-0.
In the overtime periods,
Felix Kollmannthaler had a strike but went right, while
Ian Bennett's shot after a stellar pass from Holbrook was high.
Appalachian held a 13-6 edge in shots and doubled up on GSU in corner kicks, 12-6. It was App State's second straight shutout and the first time since last season that it forces two zeros in a row.
"In conference play, the games are so tight," O'Keefe continued. "We will learn from this and get better from playing a very good and experienced Georgia State team."
The Mountaineers will return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ET) against UAB in Birmingham.
