App State Hosts Old Dominion in Season Finale

OPENING KICK: App State Soccer will host Old Dominion on Thursday in its regular season finale, with second place in the Sun Belt East Division on the line. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Mountaineers will also be hosting a Halloween costume contest at halftime.
 
LAST TIME OUT: App State fell in a tightly contested match, 1-0, to Texas State on Sunday. Sarah Wommack was sensational in goal, making several highlight-reel saves, and totaling six stops on the afternoon. Ellie Garrison had the best scoring chance for the Mountaineers, hitting the crossbar in the 77th minute of play. Less than three minutes later the Bobcats broke the scoreless tie, tapping home a rebound for the game's lone goal. Izzi Wood led the App State offense with four shots, including two on target, while Garrison added three shots and one on goal.
 
ABOUT OLD DOMINION: Old Dominion enters with an overall record of 9-5-3 and a conference mark of 4-2-3, identical to App State's Sun Belt mark. Old Dominion fell to Arkansas State 1-0 its last time out, dropping to 2-4-1 on the road this season. The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for the Monarchs. This season ODU has outscored its opponents 20-14, while averaging 6.5 shots more per-game than the opposition. Rhea Kijowski leads the offense with nine goals and one assist on the season, while nine different players have scored at least one goal. Emily Bredek and Erin Jones have split time in the net, combining for nine clean sheets this season, which leads the conference and ranks 34th nationally.
 
SERIES HISTORY: App State and Old Dominion have faced off just three times in program history, with the series deadlocked 1-1-1. The teams have met twice since ODU joined the Sun Belt two seasons ago, with App State winning 1-0 in 2022 on a free kick goal from Skyler Walk, while ODU countered with a 1-0 win last season in Norfolk.
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE: With a win over Old Dominion, App State would finish as the No. 4 seed in the tournament. If the Mountaineers draw with ODU, or if App State loses and Georgia State and Coastal Carolina play to a draw, App State would be the fifth seed. If App State loses and the Georgia State-Coastal Carolina match does not end in a draw, the Mountaineers would be the sixth-seed next week in Foley, Ala. App State clinched a spot in the conference tournament, as one of the top eight teams in the Sun Belt, by virtue of its 4-1 win over Troy on Sept. 24.
 
INCREDIBLE IZZI: Graduate student Izzi Wood has scored 10 goals in her last 12 games and has tied the App State single-season record with 11 goals on the year, including braces against Radford, Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State. Wood sits in third place on the App State scoring list with 26 goals in her career. She also ranks third all-time in shots with 220 and fifth in points with 58. Wood leads the Sun Belt in shots (77) and shots on goal (40) and is tied for the Sun Belt lead in goals with 11. She also third in points (23) and tied for second in game-winning goals (3). Wood ranks 11th nationally in shots on goal-per-game and 21st in the country in goals scored. The Hickory, N.C. native was named a preseason All-Conference selection after earning second team All-Conference honors last season – becoming the first Mountaineer to collect postseason Sun Belt honors since 2018. She was also named second team All-Region in 2023.
 
ENTER ELLIE: Freshman attacker Ellie Garrison has needed little time to adjust to the college game. The 2023 North Carolina Golden Boot award winner set state records for career goals (230) and single-season goals (96) during her career at Wheatmore High School. Garrison has scored four goals and tallied five assists this season, tolling 13 points in her first 17 collegiate games, the most points by an App State freshman in the Sun Belt era (2014-present). Garrison is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt in assists.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: App State closed out play on the road this season going 4-3-2 away from Boone. The 2024 Mountaineers have won the most road games since the 2016 squad went 5-5 on the road. It also marks the first time since 2012 that App State has finished with a winning record on the road. Play on the road was capped by a 4-1 win at Troy, marking the most goals scored in a road game since 2013 against The Citadel.
 
A HELPING HAND: App State has registered 21 assists on its 26 goals this season. App State ranks fifth in the Sun Belt in scoring and fifth in assists this season. App State has seen ten different players score this season and 11 players pick up at least one assist.
 
SET UP BY STEPH: Senior midfielder Stephanie Barbosa has been a key creator in the Mountaineers' attack this season. Barbosa has set a career high with five assists, and now has 11 helpers in 73 games in her App State career. Barbosa has recorded four assists in her last ten games and the Mountaineers have gone 5-2-3 over that stretch. She ranks tied for fourth in the Sun Belt in helpers this season.
 
MAGIC OF MUMU: Graduate student Mumu Guisasola notched her first career goal, heading in a corner kick against Marshall to help the Mountaineers to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 13. Guisasola also recorded an assist against Georgia Southern, giving her a career-high three points on the campaign. Guisasola has played every minute of every game this season, bringing her experience and leadership to a young defensive unit this season. Guisasola has played in 84 career games and made 58 career starts for the Black and Gold.
 
PROTECTING THE VALLEY: In Aimee Haywood's three seasons at the helm, the Mountaineers have been stout at home, compiling a record of 14-4-6 (.708), and outscoring their opponents 40-20 at The Valley over that span. The Mountaineers posted a program-best 13-match unbeaten streak dating back to 2022, prior to their home loss to Radford on Sept. 5.
 
NOTEWORTHY:
•          App State has secured back-to-back seasons of 7+ wins for the first time since 2015-2016
•          The team has also clinched back-to-back winning seasons in Sun Belt play for the first time since 2014-2015, its first years in the conference
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST: In App State's 4-1 win over Troy on Sept. 24, the Mountaineers saw three players score their first goal of the season. Sarah Widderich opened the scoring in the 12th minute of play and notched her first career three-point game. Stephanie Barbosa also enjoyed a three-point effort, scoring the game-winning goal in the 49th minute – her first of the year, before assisting on Izzi Wood's goal two minutes later. In the 90th minute of play, freshman Walker Bristow scored her first collegiate goal on an assist from Widderich. App State has seen ten different players score goals this season, including four players who have scored their first career goal.
 
FRESH FACES: App State has seen nine freshmen or redshirt freshmen play in their first collegiate matches this season including five who have earned at least one start. Most notably, freshman Ellie Garrison ranks second on the team in points, while pacing the Black and Gold with five assists. Redshirt freshman Sarah Wommack has played every minute in goal this season. In total, the Mountaineers have played 22 players this season.
 
FINDING THE NET: The App State offense has seen an uptick in production this season, averaging 1.53 goals-per-game which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt. App State has not finished a season with a mark higher than its current pace since 2016 when the team averaged 1.55 goals-per-game.
 
WINNING WAYS: Since her hire in Dec. 2021, Aimee Haywood has quickly elevated the Mountaineers' program. After the team won just two conference matches in 2021 prior to her arrival, Haywood guided the team to a 5-5 mark in league play in 2022, despite being picked 13th in the Sun Belt preseason poll. Last year, the team finished third in the Sun Belt, winning four of their final five regular season games, and going unbeaten at home. Haywood led the Mountaineers to a 2-0-2 start through the team's first four games of the season, marking its best start since 2007. With a record of 22-20-12 in three years at App State, Haywood boasts the best winning percentage of any coach in program history.
 
UP NEXT: App State will open Sun Belt tournament play on Monday in Foley, Ala. If App State finishes as the No. 4 or No. 5 seed, it will play at 8 p.m. ET. If the Mountaineers finish as the No. 6 seed, they will play at noon. All tournament matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.