Soccer Faces Off With Chanticleers On Thursday

OPENING KICK: App State Soccer looks to follow an impressive home win with a successful road trip as the team heads to Conway, S.C. to square off with Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: App State is 5-5-1 on the season and 1-2-1 in Sun Belt play following a 1-0 victory over South Alabama on Friday. Izzi Wood scored the lone goal of the match on a penalty kick in the 66th minute giving her 29 career goals (one behind the Casey Cleary for the most all-time). The win marked the first victory over the Jaguars since 2016 and just the second time that an opponent shut out South Alabama this season. App State is paced offensively with four goals from Ellie Garrison and three apiece from Wood and Kyli Switalski. The defense is anchored by freshman Maddie Williams who has started each of the first 11 games for the Mountaineers and has played all 90 minutes a team-high nine times. Fellow freshmen Morgan Chapman and Lucy Harrington have also earned starting roles on the back line. App State has posted back-to-back winning seasons in Sun Belt play and seven-plus win seasons overall.
 
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS: Coastal Carolina comes into play 3-4-3 overall and 0-1-3 in Sun Belt play following back-to-back scoreless draws against Old Dominion and ULM. The Chanticleers also played to a 1-1 draw against James Madison and fell 4-1 to South Alabama. The team has played a low-scoring style all season long, scoring just seven goals and allowing only 11 in 10 games played. Sophomore Dolcie O'Connor leads the offense with three goals this season, while Eleanor Ashton has provided a goal and two assists. Goalkeeper Aris Lamanna has played every minute of every game this season and has posted four shutouts. Coastal went 8-7-6 last season and 3-3-4 in Sun Belt play and was picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt this season. Sophomore defender Eefje Botjer was selected to the Sun Belt preseason all-conference team.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's matchup will mark the 17th all-time meeting between the Mountaineers and Chanticleers. Coastal leads the head-to-head series 7-5-4 following a 2-2 draw last season in Boone where Izzi Wood and Eleanor Ashton each notched two-goal efforts.
 
PERFECT FROM THE DOT: App State has gone a perfect 4-4 on penalty kicks this season, including game-winning goals against Miami and South Alabama in a pair of 1-0 victories this season. App State is one of six teams in the country (Bellarmine, Detroit Mercy, Florida, Georgetown, Oklahoma) to have made four penalty kicks this season without a miss. Ellie Garrison (2/2) and Izzi Wood (2/2) have accounted for all four makes.
 
INCREDIBLE IZZI: Graduate student Izzi Wood scored a decisive penalty kick goal in the 66^th minute on Sept. 26 in a 1-0 victory over South Alabama to give App State its first conference win of the year. Wood has now scored 29 career goals, moving her to within one goal of Casey Cleary's career record of 30 goals accomplished from 2005-2008. The sixth-year standout has played 81 matches across five seasons – the third-most in program history – despite missing the 2021 campaign due to injury. Wood is coming off a career-high 11 goals in 2024, which matched the single-season program record.

ANCHORED BY MADDIE: Freshman Maddie Williams has been the anchor of the App State defense in her first season in Boone. The native of Birmingham, England joined the team as an early enrollee in the spring, and she is one of five players to play and start all 11 games this season. Williams leads the Mountaineers with 965 minutes played this season, including a team-high nine 90-minute efforts. She has led the back line to three shutouts this season.
 
MOUNTAINEER MAGIC: Kyli Switalski scored the game-tying goal in the 86th minute of regulation in the conference opener at Old Dominion on Sept. 13 to help App State earn a 1-1 draw. It was the seventh time in Aimee Haywood's four seasons that App State has scored a game-tying or game-winning goal with less than 10 minutes to play.

A FRESH(MEN) START: 11 of App State's 27 players this season are freshmen or redshirt freshmen (9 more are sophomores or redshirt sophomores) with many earning prominent roles early on in their careers in Boone.
  
UP NEXT: App State will return home to face James Madison on Sunday. First touch is set for 1 p.m. at The Valley and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Dukes are 5-3-4 overall and 1-1-2 in Sun Belt play and will host Marshall on Thursday before making the trip to Boone.