HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Despite competing with 10 players for the final 56 minutes of play, App State's defense rose to the occasion, making an early goal hold up in a 1-0 victory over Marshall, to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament.
 
The Mountaineers (10-3-4, 5-2-2) posted a program-record ninth clean sheet of the season, handing Marshall (7-5-5, 3-3-3) its first home loss of the year. It marks the first time that the Mountaineers have won 10 games in a season since 2016.
 
Junior forward Ellie Garrison notched the lone goal of the match, heading home a corner kick from Aleesia Ambrosio in the 13^th minute of play. Garrison becomes the seventh player in program history to score double digit goals in a season. She has now scored 19 goals in her three-year career, the ninth-most in program history. 
 
Lucy Harrington was given a yellow card for a foul in the 34^th minute of play. It was upgraded to a red card upon replay review forcing App State to play a player down for the remainder of the match. It marked the first time that Harrington has come off the field all season after playing 90 minutes in each of the first 16 matches of the year.
 
In a highly competitive contest, App State held a narrow advantage 11-10 in shots and 4-3 in shots on goal. App State also outgained The Herd 6-2 in corner kicks. Marshall just missed a chance to level the score when they hit the goal post with less than six minutes to play.
 
Garrison and Yonah Dias led the Mountaineers with three shots each, while Olivia Simon and Sofia Goclowski each had a pair.
 
Reagan Sturgill played all 90 minutes for the first time in her career, joining Ambrosio and Maddie Williams as players who did not come off the field. Hanna Skogsfors secured her seventh shutout of the season in goal to tie her for the Sun Belt lead. It also ties her for second-most in a single season in program history. 
 
The Mountaineers will close out the regular season on Sunday when the team hosts Troy at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. The Trojans are 4-9-4 overall and 3-4-2 in Sun Belt play following a win over Arkansas State on Sunday.

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