App State Soccer Opens Sun Belt Play at Old Dominion

OPENING KICK: App State Soccer opens conference play on Saturday night, as the team travels to Norfolk, Va. for a 6 p.m. match against Old Dominion. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Mountaineers are 6-5 in Sun Belt openers since joining the league in 2014.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTIANEERS: App State went 4-3 in nonconference play, highlighted by a 1-0 victory over Miami on Aug. 17, the program's first victory against an ACC opponent. The Mountaineers also defeated two-time reigning Southern Conference champion Western Carolina, Davidson and Longwood. In Sunday's win over the Lancers, App State overcame a 2-1 deficit to score a pair of second half goals (a brace from Izzi Wood) for its first come from behind win since scoring five unanswered against Marshall on Oct. 8, 2023. Ellie Garrison leads the team with four goals on the season, while Wood and Kyli Switalski have added two tallies apiece. Wood is three goals away from setting the program's scoring record. Defensively, the Mountaineers are led by freshman Maddie Williams who has played all but two minutes this season, helping lead App State to a pair of shutouts.
 
SCOUTING THE MONARCHS: Old Dominion went 4-1-1 in nonconference play, highlighted by a 2-1 victory over No. 20 Virginia Tech and 2-0 win over Maryland. The win over the Hokies was the Monarchs first ranked win in 12 seasons. The Monarchs are coming off a 2-1 victory over VCU on Sunday, in which Riley Mullen scored two goals in the first 19 minutes of play on her way to being named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week. The junior leads the Monarchs with three goals this season, while 10 different players have registered a point. Ellie Goodrich and Erin Jones have split time in net for the Monarchs this season, while Ashlynn Kulha has played every minute of every game on the back line this season. The Sun Belt tournament runner-up last season, Old Dominion was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt in the 2025 preseason poll.
 
SERIES HISTORY: App State and Old Dominion are meeting for the fifth time in program history. The Monarchs lead the series 2-1-1, including a 3-1 victory last season in Boone. App State won 1-0 in Norfolk in 2023, one of just three losses that the Monarchs sustained that season on their way to winning the Sun Belt Championship.
 
ELITE ELLIE: Sophomore attacker Ellie Garrison was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 19, following three goals – including two game-winners – in the opening week of play. In the season-opener on Aug. 14, 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 for her second career brace. Three days later against Miami, Garrison scored the game's lone goal on a penalty kick with 11 minutes to play. Garrison added to that total with a fourth-minute goal on Aug. 21 against Davidson in which she went between the legs of the Wildcats goalkeeper. Garrison's three game-winning goals this season are tied for the most in the Sun Belt and tied for sixth nationally. She ranks tied for third in the league in goals (4) and tied for fifth in points (8).
 
A second team All-Sun Belt selection as a true freshman in 2024, Garrison has quickly earned accolades to begin her sophomore campaign. She earned Preseason All-Sun Belt honors, being named a national Midfielder to Watch by United Soccer Coaches and was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Women's Team of the Week for the first week of the season. 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.
 
INCREDIBLE IZZI: Graduate student Izzi Wood scored two goals in the second half against Longwood on Sunday, leading the Mountaineers to a come-from-behind win in their final nonconference match. The two second half goals were the 27th and 28th career tallies for Wood, moving her into second place in program history, trailing only Casey Cleary (30). The sixth-year standout has played 77 matches across five seasons – the fifth-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.
 
Wood registered eight shots against Longwood on Sept. 7, setting the program record with 242 in her career. She also has tallied 68 career points, which is second behind Cleary's 71. 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.
 
SUN BELT OPENERS: App State is 6-5 in Sun Belt openers since joining the conference in 2014. Last year App State won at Georgia Southern 2-1 to open league play and went unbeaten through its first five league games (2-0-3). Aimee Haywood is a perfect 3-0 in Sun Belt openers, having defeated ULM in 2022 and Troy in 2023.
 
LET'S PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: App State's 3-0 start matched its best start in program history, joining the 1999 team as the only other team to accomplish that feat. App State's win over Miami marked the program's second power conference win and first against an ACC opponent.
 
A FRESH(MEN) START: Defenders Maddie Williams and Morgan Chapman have quickly assumed starting roles for the Mountaineers early on in their freshman campaigns. Williams has played all but two minutes this season, starting all seven games at center back, while Champman has earned a start in each of the four three games and has played all 90 minutes in each of those contests. Freshman Lucy Harrington also earned a start along the back line and has played in six of the team's first six matches this season. Redshirt freshman Anna Claire Jacobi has started all seven matches in goal, while true freshman Hanna Skogsfors has played in relief each of the last three matches.
 
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. Through seven nonconference games, the Mountaineers are averaging 1.14 goals per game.
 
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers will head to Atlanta next week for a Thursday night showdown against Geogia State at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Panthers closed out nonconference play with a 1-1 draw against Wofford to push their record to 4-3-1 on the season. They host Southern Miss on Sunday to open conference play.