BOONE, N.C. – The third-seeded App State soccer team embarks on its first Sun Belt semifinal matchup since 2016, as the team faces second-seeded Old Dominion on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET in Foley, Ala. The contest will be available to stream on ESPN+
App State (12-3-4, 6-2-2) earned its spot in the semifinals with a golden goal from
Olivia Simon in the 97
th to lift the team to a 1-0 victory over Louisiana on Monday. Simon headed in the game-winner off a free kick from
Maddie Williams to give App State its first tournament victory since 2021 and its first overtime victory since 2020. App State held the Cajuns to just one shot on goal for the team's 11
th clean sheet of the season. The Mountaineers continued their historic season, tying the program wins record with the 12
th victory of the season. All-conference goalkeeper
Hanna Skogsfors earned her ninth clean sheet of the season, to set the individual single-season record.
App State is led in scoring this season by first team All-Sun Belt selection
Ellie Garrison who set the single-season scoring record with 12 goals and 26 points this season.
Libby Bermingham follows with eight goals this season, and Simon boasts four goals and three assists.
Hayden Petrick leads the team with assists with five and Sophia Goclowski has four. The Mountaineers are ranked second in the country for corner kicks, averaging 8.3 per game and have outshot their opponents 13.1-6.7 on average this season. They are ranked third in the Sun Belt for shots and lead the league shutouts, paced by all-league center backs
Maddie Williams and
Lucy Harrington. The Mountaineers are looking for their first conference title game appearance in program history.
Old Dominion (10-6-2, 7-1-2) enters the match following a dominating performance against the seventh seeded Marshall, posting a 5-1 victory on Monday, for their fifth consecutive win. After Riley Mullen scored twice, two minutes apart in the first half, while Dylan McEntarfer, Hanna Morgan and Ashley Economopulous also found the back of the net. The Monarchs outshot Marshall 16-6, with 10 of those shots being on target.
The Monarchs are led by Ashlyn Kulha, the Sun Belts defensive player of the year and Ellie Goodrich, the Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the year. The Monarchs have conceded just 13 goals on the season and have allowed just two across the five-match winning streak. The Monarchs won back-to-back tournaments in 2022 and 2023, their first two years in the Sun Belt.
App State and Old Dominion are meeting for the sixth time head-to-head and for the second time this season. Old Dominion leads the series 2-2-2 since rejoining the conference in 2022. The two teams battled to a scoreless draw in Boone on Sept. 27 – emblematic of the top two defensive teams in the Sun Belt, with each giving up just 13 goals on the year.
The winner of Wednesday's match will face the winner of top-seeded James Madison and fifth-seeded South Alabama in the championship game on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
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