BOONE, N.C. – App State field hockey earned its sixth straight win on Friday night, defeating Ball State 1-0 in double-overtime. The Mountaineers most recently had six consecutive wins in 2019, making the current streak the second of its kind since 1985, when the Black & Gold closed the season with six victories.
Anna Smarrelli scored a diving goal for the win in the 77th minute of play off of Friederike Stegen's assist after five scoreless periods.
While the Mountaineers (10-5, 4-2 MAC) out-shot the Cardinals (7-8, 4-2 MAC) 20-4, Ball State held its own on the defensive end, saving seven shots throughout the game.
"I am really proud of our team for fighting through the scrappy ups and downs of the game," head coach Meghan Dawson said. "Ball State was a really good defensive team that forced us to get creative around the goal."
After consistently shooting between two and four shots during each regulation period, the Mountaineers came out swinging when the game went into overtime, tallying eight shots between the two overtime periods while allowing just one.
Smarrelli led the Black & Gold in shots with six, four of which were on goal. Sarah Farrell put up five attempts and Stegen tallied three shots.
Stegen's assist bumped her up to the No. 1 spot in the MAC in points with 26.
This was the fifth shutout of the season for Addie Clark and the App State defense, the most in the conference. Clark, Grace Ball and Allison Corey played all 76 minutes on the defensive end, and Fien Zwaan plagued all 60 minutes of regulation. Pauline Mangold also poured in 74 minutes in the midfield.
"We've got a lot of ways to keep growing, and that's the really exciting thing about this team," Dawson said. "Every girl out there is invested in getting better every day and fighting through the thick and thin as a team."
App State now sits at the No. 3 spot in the Mid-American Conference standings with one conference game left against Ohio, who holds the No. 5 spot. The top four teams in the standings will compete in the MAC tournament on Nov. 4-5 in Oxford, Ohio.
The Mountaineers will host their final home game against Queens this Sunday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day before going on the road next week.
