OPENING KICK: App State Soccer looks to snap a three-game losing skid as the team travels to Farmville, Va. to take on the Longwood Lancers, Sunday at 2 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTIANEERS: App State is 3-3 and is coming off a narrow 1-0 loss at home on Thursday against East Carolina. The Pirates scored in the seventh minute of play, but despite a pair of quality scoring opportunities, including a controversial offsides call that took a goal off the board. App State looks to regain its footing after opening the season 3-0 – defeating two-time reigning conference champion Western Carolina, earning the program's first ACC victory with a 1-0 triumph over Miami and handing Davidson its first loss of the season.
Ellie Garrison leads the team with four goals on the season, including a brace in the season opener against the Catamounts.
Kyli Switalski has added a pair of goals, highlighted by an olimpico goal on Aug. 21 against Davidson, where she curled the ball into the net off a corner kick. Defensively, App State has notched two shutouts this season and with freshman
Maddie Williams anchoring the defense, having played all but two minutes in six games.
SCOUTING THE LANCERS: Longwood enters the matchup 3-3-1 on the season, following a scoreless draw against Western Carolina on Thursday. Like the Mountaineers, the Lancers opened the season with three consecutive wins (for the first time since 2001), before encountering three consecutive setbacks. Sam Fischer leads the Longwood attack with four goals and one assist on the season, while seven different Lancers have found the back of the net through seven games. Longwood was picked fourth out of nine teams in the Big South preseason poll. Longwood is coming off a 4-9-6 campaign in 2024, that saw the team go 3-2-3 in league play. They are coached by Todd Dyer, who had led the program since its inception in 1993.
SERIES HISTORY: App State and Longwood are set to square off in what is the 11
th all-time meeting between the two programs. App State has dominated the series, leading 10-2, including a 2-0 victory in Boone in 2024.
Izzi Wood and
Ellie Garrison each scored a first half goal in the win of the Mountaineers. Longwood's last win in the series came in 2009.
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. 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 leads the Sun Belt and ranks tied for third in the nation with three game-winning goals this season. She is tied for second in the league in goals (4), tied for fourth in points (8) and tied for seventh in shots on goal (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. Aug. 17 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 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 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 75 matches across five seasons – which is tied for tenth-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. 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. She also ranks second all-time with 234 shots.
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.
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. In four seasons under head coach
Aimee Haywood, App State has recorded 20 shutouts, highlighted by eight in 2023.
PROTECTING THE VALLEY: In
Aimee Haywood's three seasons at the helm, the Mountaineers have been stout at home, compiling a record of 16-6-6 (.679), and outscoring their opponents 44-24 at The Valley over that span. The Mountaineers posted a program-best 13-match unbeaten streak from Oct. 14, 2022, through Aug. 29, 2024.
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 six games at center back, while Champman has earned a start in each of the last three games and has played all 90 minutes in each of those contests. Freshman Lucy Harrinton also earned a start along the back line and has played in five of the team's first six matches this season. Redshirt freshman
Anna Claire Jacobi has started all six matches in goal, while true freshman
Hanna Skogsfors has played in relief each of the last two matches.
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers will open Sun Belt play on Saturday as the team returns to the Commonwealth to face off with Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. The Monarchs are 3-1-1 on the season, including wins over Maryland and No. 21 Virginia Tech. ODU was picked third in the Sun Belt preseason poll. Saturday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
