App State Soccer Looks to Maintain Unblemished Record at William & Mary

OPENING KICK: App State Soccer has matched its best start in program history and now looks to eclipse that mark as the team travels to Williamsburg, Va. to face off with the William & Mary Tribe on Sunday at noon. The match will be streamed on FloSports.
 
ABOUT APP STATE: App State has won its first three games of the season for the first time since 1999, including wins over two-time reigning conference champion Western Carolina, the program's first ACC win over Miami, and handing Davidson its first loss of the season. Ellie Garrison has led the team with four goals through the first three games, including a brace in the season opener against the Catamounts. Kyli Switalski has added a pair of goals, highlighted by an olipico goal on Thursday, where she curled the ball into the net off a corner kick. The App State defense has posted back-to-back shutouts and has not conceded a goal in the run of play this season, with both goals given up against Western Carolina coming off penalty kicks. Redshirt freshman Anna Claire Jacobi has started all three games in goal this season, while sophomore Sydney Snowden and freshman Maddie Williams have anchored the back line. The Mountaineers went 7-7-5 overall and 4-3-3 in Sun Belt play a season ago, securing back-to-back seasons of seven or more wins for the first time since 2015-2016 and back-to-back winning seasons in Sun Belt play for the first time since 2014-2015 (its first two years in the conference). The Mountaineers were picked to finish eighth in the Sun Belt conference preseason poll.
 
ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY: The Tribe enters play on Sunday looking for its first win of the season after an 0-2-1 start to the campaign, featuring losses to Old Dominion and Loyola (Md.) after a 1-1 draw against George Mason in the season opener. Lindsay Wilson has scored the lone goal of the season for the Tribe, while Gwen Doughty has been in goal for all 270 minutes. The Tribe was picked sixth out of 12 teams in the CAA preseason poll after posting an 8-10 record in 2024 and a 3-7 mark in conference play. They return their leading scorer Ivey Crain, who scored seven goals and added an assist last season. The Tribe is led by eighth-year head coach Julie Shackford.
 
 
SERIES HISTORY: Sunday marks the second meeting all-time between App State and William & Mary. The two teams faced off in 2011 in a tournament hosted by VCU in Richmond, Va. The Tribe captured that matchup, 2-0.
 
LET'S PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: App State has matched its best start in program history, winning each of its first three games of the season, joining the 1999 team as the only other team to accomplish that feat. A win over the Tribe would mark the first 4-0 start in program history.
 
ELITE ELLIE: Sophomore attacker Ellie Garrison was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, following three goals – including two game-winners – in the opening week of play. Garrison added to that total with a fourth minute goal on Thursday against Davidson in which she went between the legs of the Wildcats goalkeeper. Garrison leads the Sun Belt in game-winning goals (3) and is tied for the league lead in goals (4) and points (8). Garrison scored a penalty kick goal in the first half and a game-winner with 1:09 to play in regulation in a 3-2 win over Western Carolina on Aug. 14 for her second career brace. Sunday against Miami, Garrison scored the game's lone goal on a penalty kick with 11 minutes to play.
 
A second team All-Sun Belt selection as a true freshman in 2024, Garrison enters her sophomore season on her way towards another breakout campaign. The Trinity, N.C. native played and started all 19 games in her first season in Boone, registering four goals and five assists. Her combined 13 points were the most by an App State freshman in the Sun Belt era. Garrison was named an All-Southeast Region selection following the season and was ranked as the 49th-best freshman in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. Garrison has already garnered significant attention this season, earning Preseason All-Sun Belt honors, being named a national Midfielder to Watch by United Soccer Coaches and being selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Women's Team of the Week for the first week of the season.
 
INCREDIBLE IZZI: Graduate student Izzi Wood returns for her final season of eligibility in 2025 and leads the team with two assists through three games this season. The sixth-year standout has played 73 matches across four seasons, while 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. She enters the 2025 campaign with 26 career tallies, five away from setting the App State career goals record, currently held by Casey Cleary (2005-08). Last season Wood led the Sun Belt in shots (80) and shots on goal (41) while ranking third in the conference in goals scored (11) and in points (23). She also finished the season tied for third in the league in game-winning goals (3). Wood has been named All-Sun Belt and All-Southeast Region each of the past two seasons and was picked to the Sun Belt preseason all-conference team this season for the second straight year. Wood's assist against Davidson on Thursday gave her 60 career points which moved her into fourth place all-time.
 
KICKIN' IT WITH KYLI: Redshirt sophomore Kyli Switalski has scored two goals through the first four goals of the season, equaling her career high. The High Point, N.C. native scored the team's first goal of the season, in the 10th minute at Western Carolina. She then scored an incredible "olímpico" goal where she bent a corner kick into the back of the net against Davidson. Switalski scored two goals and added three assists last season after sitting out her true freshman year while recovering from injury.
 
SQUEEKY CLEAN: Anna Claire Jacobi has recorded back-to-back shutouts in wins over Miami and Davidson to tie her with Marshall's Emma Durand for the Sun Belt lead. Jacobi is also tied for the conference lead with 14 saves through three games. In four seasons under head coach Aimee Haywood, App State has recorded 20 shutouts, highlighted by eight in 2023.
 
HAYWOOD AT THE HELM: In her fourth season, head coach Aimee Haywood has posted the best winning percentage of any coach in program history. Despite being picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the 2022 preseason poll, Haywood guided her team to a seventh-place finish in her first season. In 2023, despite being picked to finish eighth, the Mountaineers finished in third place, their best conference finish in program history. Haywood has helped the Mountaineers to back-to-back winning seasons in Sun Belt play for the first time since 2014-15. Haywood helped the Mountaineers to a scoreless draw at NC State last season and recorded the program's first power conference victory since 2016 with their win over Miami on Aug. 17.
 
PROTECTING THE VALLEY: In Aimee Haywood's three seasons at the helm, the Mountaineers have been stout at home, compiling a record of 16-5-6 (.704), and outscoring their opponents 44-23 at The Valley over that span. The Mountaineers posted a program-best 13-match unbeaten streak from Oct. 14, 2022, through Aug. 29, 2024.
 
FINDING TWINE: The App State offense has increased its scoring output in each of the past two seasons, scoring 27 goals (1.42 goals-per-game) in 2024, their best output since scoring 31 goals (1.55 goals-per-game) in 2016. App State returns each of its top five goal scorers (Izzi Wood, Ellie Garrison, Kyli Switalski, Shannon Studer and Olivia Simon) from a season ago. So far in 2025 the Mountaineers are averaging 2.0 goals-per-game, their best rate since scoring a program-record 48 goals in 20 games 2004, which included 8 goals in a match against The Citadel and 11 goals against South Carolina State.
 
FRESH FACES: App State has added 10 newcomers (all freshmen) into the fold in 2025. Four of those players are international, coming from England, Scotland and Sweden. Maddie Williams (Birmingham, England) was an early enrollee and participated in spring competition and has played all but two minutes through the first three matches of the season. Redshirt freshman Anna Claire Jacobi made seven saves in her first career start on Aug. 14 at Western Carolina and totaled six more in her first career shutout against Miami on Aug. 17. Of the 17 returners, nine saw at least one start in 2024.
 
UP NEXT: App State will return to action on Sunday, August 30 when the team visits Clemson. The Tigers are 1-1-1 on the season and return to action on Thursday against South Carolina in the annual Palmetto Series.