OPENING KICK: App State heads across the mountains to Tennessee, where they will face UT Martin Thursday night. The match was originally slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET, but has been pushed back to 8 PM ET due to elevated temperatures. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
APP STATE LAST TIME OUT: App State earned its first victory of the season with a 3-0 triumph over George Mason at home on Sunday.
Stephanie Barbosa scored two goals, while
Izzi Wood capped the scoring with a penalty kick goal in the 58
th minute.
Kerry Eagleston posted her 19
th career clean sheet, recording three saves. App State finished the match with 21 shots on goal, the most that the team had tallied since Oct. 18, 2019 vs ULM (W, 3-0).
Summer Bowman made her first career start, while
Aleesia Ambrosio,
Marley Kahle, and
Kaytan Kroboth each made their first career appearances.
ABOUT UT MARTIN: The Skyhawks are off to a 1-0 start this season after defeating Austin Peay 2-1 on opening night. Junior forward Makayla Robinson scored both goals for the Skyhawks in the match. Robinson was an All-Conference second team selection for UT Martin two seasons ago. The win was the first for head coach Mike Varga at the helm. He was hired by UT Martin in June after nine seasons at Gardner-Webb. The Skyhawks went 4-9-5 last season with a 1-5-2 record in OVC play.
SERIES HISTORY: The Mountaineers and Skyhawks have met two times prior, with App State winning both meetings. The Mountaineers won 2-1 last season, scoring a pair of goals in the first 27 minutes, from Anna Kate Highsmith and
Izzi Wood, helping
Aimee Haywood to her first win as head coach at App State. The first meeting came back in 1999, a 5-0 victory for the Mountaineers.
SUPER SUN BELT: Through one week of play this season, no conference has had more success than the Sun Belt. League members have combined to post a record of 19-6-2 (.741), ahead of the ACC (.722), SEC (.720), Big12 (.704), and B1G (.685). 13 of the 14 conference members won won at least one game in the opening week of play.
LAST ONE, BEST ONE: After enrolling in an accelerated associate's program in high school,
Stephanie Barbosa will graduate this season after just three years in college. She is off to a fantastic start this season, registering her first career brace against George Mason on Sunday. Barbosa finished off a cross to open the scoring 11 minutes in, and then forced a turnover and scored again just 30 seconds into the second half. Barbosa had scored just one career goal in 39 games prior.
