BOONE, N.C. - App State will fly to Mississippi as the Mountaineers take on the Southern Miss. Golden Eagles, Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
ABOUT APP STATE: App State (4-7-4, 3-4-0) is coming off a 1-0 victory over Old Dominion, which won the Conference USA title last season.
Skyler Walk scored the lone goal in the 68
th minute, on a free kick from just beyond midfield. Her service bounced in front of the goal line and
Oliva Cohen and
Mumu Guisasola both went flying in towards the ball, freezing the Monarchs goalkeeper. The goal was the first of Walk's career. Defensively,
Kerry Eagleston posted her fifth clean sheet of the season, registering eight saves in the contest. App State has now won three of their four home Sun Belt matches after defeating ULM and Coastal Carolina last month. App State is led by
Izzi Wood, who ranks fifth in the Sun Belt in shots (40) and seventh in shots on goal (18), while leading the team with four goals on the season.
Shannon Studer has tallied two goals and two assists, and ranks second on the squad with six points. Eagleston has started every game in net for App State, posting a 1.23 goals-against-average and .804 save percentage, to go along with five shutouts.
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles (1-8-3, 1-4-2), are looking to snap a six-match winless streak, following an 8-1 loss to South Alabama on Sunday. Bernadett Stefan scored the lone goal for Southern Miss. Stefan and Ilana Izquierdo are tied for the team lead with two goals apiece, while Ryan Smith leads the way with 13 shots. Alex Helbling has been the Golden Eagles' primary goalkeeper, starting 10 games, and posting a 2.34 goals-against-average and a .623 save percentage. The team's last win came back on Sept. 17 at Marshall. They did earn a scoreless draw against East Division-leading James Madison on Sept. 25.
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's match will represent the first meeting all-time between the Mountaineers and Golden Eagles.
MIX 'N MATCH: App State has opened the match with a different starting lineup in all 15 contests this season. Goalkeeper
Kerry Eagleston and defender
Skyler Walk are the only players to start all 15 matches this season.
ELEVATING THE A: With three matches still remaining in the regular season, App State's three conference wins already eclipse the two Sun Belt victories they recorded a season ago.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Through 15 games this season, eight different players have scored at least one goal for the Mountaineers.
WALK THIS WAY: Sophomore defender
Skyler Walk has been a huge catalyst for the Mountaineers this season, playing more minutes than any other player on the campaign. Walk has played 1,327 minutes this year, playing all 90 minutes in all but one contest. She has played at least 132 more minutes than any other field player on the squad. Walk scored her first career goal on Friday, bouncing home a free kick from 45-yards out.
SUPER STUDER: Freshman
Shannon Studer netted the game-winning goal in each of the first two conference games for App State. Sept. 18 against ULM she scored the lone goal of the match, in the 64
th minute, with App State playing with just 10 players on the field. Then on Sept. 22 against Coastal Carolina, she answered a game-tying goal by the Chanticleers in the 81
st minute with a tally less than a minute later. Her two game-winning goals this season are tied for fifth most in the Sun Belt. Studer has also recorded a team-best two assists this season, helping on goals against UT Martin and College of Charleston. As a true freshman, Studer has started 14 of the first 15 matches this season, playing 1,195 minutes on the campaign, the second most by an App State field player. Her six points this season also rank second on the team. Studer has played both on the back line and in the midfield this season.
INCREDIBLE IZZI: Junior forward
Izzi Wood leads App State offensively with a team-best four goals, 40 shots, and 18 shots on goal. She recorded her first career two-goal match Sept. 15 against Radford, tallying her team-best third and fourth goals of the season, in a 2-2 draw. Wood scored on a free kick from about 30 yards out in the 8
th minute of play to open the scoring, and then four minutes later, tapped in a rebound off a
Gabby Tremonti free kick. Wood ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in shots and seventh in shots on goal. She is the first Mountaineer to record a two-goal game since
Breckyn Monteith did so last year against Little Rock on October 24. Wood also scored twice in an exhibition match against UNC Asheville. She is playing for the first time since 2020 after missing last season due to injury.
IT BEGINS WITH BARBOSA: Sophomore
Stephanie Barbosa has become increasingly involved in the offensive production for the Mountaineers. September 25 at Marshall, she picked up her first assist of the season, feeding
Breckyn Monteith on the game-tying goal. Barbosa also scored her first goal of her career at The College of Charleston, when she headed home a cross from
Shannon Studer. Barbosa has played at least 30 minutes in every match this season.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior goalkeeper
Kerry Eagleston has been a mainstay between the pipes for the Mountaineers, playing and starting in 69 games across four seasons. Eagleston recorded six saves against Georgia Southern, Oct. 9
th to move her into third place in program history. Eagleston leads the Sun Belt in saves (74), while ranking second in save percentage (.804), and fourth in shutouts (5).
Last season, Eagleston led the Sun Belt with 113 saves, while also ranking tied for second in shutouts (3), fifth in save percentage (.813), and tenth in goals against average (1.37). She recorded double-digit saves three times, including a career-high 20 saves against Wake Forest, the second-most in a match in program history.
THE KERRY COUNTER:
Career Shutouts:
1. 24, Breland Meany...................................................2001-2004
2. 21, Caroline Clarke................................................. 2007-2010
3. 17, Kerry Eagleston ..............................................2019-present
4. 14, Megan Roebrson ...............................................2012-2015
Season Shutouts
T1. 7 Breland Meany...........................................................2001
T1. 7 Breland Meany.......................................................... 2002
T1. 7 Breland Meany.......................................................... 2003
T1. 7 Caroline Clarke.......................................................... 2009
T5. 6 Kerry Eagleston.....................................................2020-21
T5. 6 Emma White.............................................................. 2006
T5. 6 Caroline Clarke...........................................................2010
T7. 5 Kerry Eagleston………………………………..…..2022
T7. 5 Emma White.............................................................. 2007
T7. 5 Caroline Clarke.......................................................... 2008
Career Saves:
1. 375 Kelley Guinn ..................................................... 1994-1996
2. 369 Breland Meany...................................................2001-2004
3. 333 Kerry Eagleston................................................2019-present
4. 319 Caroline Clarke.................................................. 2007-2010
HAYWOOD AT THE HELM: Aimee Haywood was announced as the fifth head coach in App State soccer history when she was hired in December. Haywood joins the Black and Gold following a two-year stint at Queens University where she helped the Royals to a 16-5-1 record last season on their way to the second round of the Division II NCAA tournament. Haywood went 23-7-2 in two seasons at Queens. Prior to that she spent four years leading her alma mater, Ohio Dominican, where she complied a 44-25-10 record. In 2017 she led the Panthers to a program-record 16-win season that culminated with their first Division II NCAA tournament win.
ROLLING IN THE DEEP: Team depth is an aspect that has been prominently on display for the Mountaineers this season. On a roster comprised of 33 players, 26 have seen playing time already this year. Of those, 19 different players have earned at least one start, including newcomers
Shannon Studer (14 starts),
Anna Kate Highsmith (10),
Katie Schumacher (12),
Gabby Tremonti (5),
Felicia Erkenfeldt (3),
Lela Stark (4),
Emilene Parham (1), and
Izzy Lusardi (1).
HOME COOKING: App State has begun Sun Belt play 3-1 at home with wins over ULM, Coastal Carolina, and Old Dominion. Overall, the Mountaineers are 4-2-2 at home, compared to a 0-5-2 mark away from The Valley. App State has score 9 of its 12 goals on its own turf this season.
SCORELESS DRAWS: Following a 0-0 draw at George Mason on Aug. 28, the Mountaineers have posted three scoreless draws on the season, the most since 2010 when they recorded four on the year. They finished that season with five draws overall, the most in program history.
The Mountaineers opened the season with back-to-back scoreless draws, against Liberty and USC Upstate. Previously, the last scoreless draw involving App State came October 1, 2020 against The Citadel. The last time the Mountaineers posted scoreless draws in consecutive games was October 18 and 20 of 2013 when they did so against Wofford and Furman respectively. All scoreless draws prior to this season included overtime, which has since been eliminated from regular season contests.
UP NEXT: App State will take on Louisiana in their home finale, Sunday at 11 a.m. at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
