App State Soccer Visits Georgia State Thursday

OPENING KICK: After rallying for a 1-1 draw in its conference opener at Old Dominion on Saturday, App State Soccer is back in action on Thursday, as the team travels to Atlanta, Ga. to take on the Georgia State Panthers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: App State is 4-3-1 on the season and 0-0-1 in Sun Belt play following a 1-1 draw at Old Dominion. Kyli Switalski scored the game-tying goal on a free kick in the 86^th minute of play to earn a point on the road. Switalski exited the match in the 59^th minute after a collision on a header but returned in the 81st minute and scored the equalizing goal for her third goal of the year (and second on a set piece). Ellie Garrison leads App State with four goals on the year, while Izzi Wood has scored a pair and her 28 career goals are just two behind the Casey Cleary for most all-time. Defensively, the Mountaineers are led by freshman Maddie Williams who leads the team in minutes and has helped the defense to a pair of shutouts. The Mountaineers are aiming to put together their third straight winning season in Sun Belt play and are coming off back-to-back seven-win seasons overall.
 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Georgia State is 5-3-1 overall and 1-0-0 in Sun Belt play after defeating Southern Miss 4-2 in its conference opener on Sunday. Georgia State was led by a brace from Aaliyah Faddoul who was subsequently named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career. Faddoul, who was named a Preseason All-Sun Belt selection, Faddoul leads the Panthers with 11 points (3 goals, 5 assists). Georgia State's most notable result this season came in a 2-1 victory over Florida for the program's first win over an SEC opponent since 2005 and one of six wins for the Sun Belt against power conference opponents this season. Ariana Anderson has started all nine matches in goal for the Panthers and has posted a pair of clean sheets.
 
SERIES HISTORY: App State and Georgia State are meeting for the 16th time in program history, with the Panthers leading the all-time series 10-3-2. Most recently, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Boone in 2024. The 2023 meeting featured a thrilling 1-0 win in Atlanta in the regular season finale, as App State finished off a third place Sun Belt finish, its best conference finish in program history.
 
ELITE ELLIE: Sophomore attacker Ellie Garrison leads the Mountaineers with four goals this season, including a brace in the season-opener at Western Carolina, culminating with the game-winning goal in the 89th minute of play. She followed that up with a decisive penalty kick goal in the Mountaineers historic 1-0 win over Miami and was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 19. Three of Garrison's four goals have been game-winners.
 
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 Sept. 7, 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 78 matches across five seasons – tied for the fourth-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 244 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.
 
KICKIN' IT WITH KYLI: Redshirt sophomore Kyli Switalski is the team's second-leading scorer with three goals this season. After scoring the team's first goal of the season, in the 10th minute at Western Carolina, Switlski scored an incredible "olímpico" goal where she bent a corner kick into the back of the net against Davidson on Aug. 21. After missing two games due to injury, Switalski returned to score the game-winning goal on a free kick against Old Dominion on Sept. 13. Last season Switalski scored two goals and added three assists after sitting out her true freshman year while recovering from injury.
 
MOUNTAINEER MAGIC: Kyli Switalski scored the game-tying goal in the 86th minute of regulation in the conference opener at Old Dominion 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.
 
Date                Opponent                   Goal Scorer                 Time    Final Score
9/13/25           at Old Dominion         Kyli Switalski                86'       T, 1-1
8/14/25           at Western Carolina    Ellie Garrison              89'       W, 3-2
9/26/24           at Louisiana                 Izzi Wood                    83'       W, 1-0
10/22/23         at Arkansas State        Izzi Wood                    83'       W, 2-1
9/24/23           vs James Madison       Summer Bowman       89'       T, 1-1
9/21/23           at Coastal Carolina      Summer Bowman       83'       T, 1-1
9/22/22           vs Coastal Carolina      Shannon Studer          81'       W, 2-1
 
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers will host their first conference match of the season on Sunday when the team welcomes Louisiana to Boone. The match is set for 1 p.m. at The Valley and it will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Cajuns lost 3-0 to South Alabama in their conference opener and host Arkansas State on Thursday.