BOONE, N.C. — After all the practices, scrimmages and exhibitions, Appalachian State University women's soccer will open the 2016 regular season at home against Northern Kentucky at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19. The Mountaineers will then go on the road to face Davidson on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m.
App State went 1-1 in preseason exhibition play and is coming off an exciting final preseason match against Elon where the Mountaineers poured on the offense, having four different student-athletes find the back of the net. After being ranked fourth by the Sun Belt Conference in the preseason coaches poll and having junior defender Lindsey Tully named preseason all-conference, Appalachian is looking to start the regular season off right against two tough opponents on opening weekend.
Knocking off the Norse
The Norse finished 11-5-2 last season and 6-2-1 in the Horizon League, good for third overall in the conference. NKU returns 20 student-athletes overall after only losing nine, and will only introduce six newcomers this season. With eight seniors and five juniors, Northern Kentucky is stacked with veteran upperclassmen and will look to go toe-to-toe with the also experienced Mountaineers.
Individually, the Norse are returning the Horizon League Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, Macy Hamblin. Hamblin set NKU records last season with nine assists and 21 points as a sophomore, while also finishing eighth in the conference in goals (six). NKU also returns first-team all-League selection Jessica Frey, who led the team in goals, finishing tied for second in the conference with seven.
Defensively, Northern Kentucky returns all-Freshman team selection Taylor Spaulding, who protecting the back line for the Norse for all but 83 minutes and allowed just 14 goals in 18 matches.
Returning in the net for NKU is Brooke Schocker. Schocker logged over 1,600 minutes as goalkeeper for the Norse last season, allowing just 13 goals with 64 saves en route to six shutouts.
This is the first ever meeting between the Northern Kentucky Norse and the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
Wrecking the Wildcats
Another former SoCon foe, the Davidson Wildcats are now in the Atlantic-10 where they went 2-5-2 last season (7-12-2 overall). Despite the disappointing season, the Wildcats are returning eight of their 11 starters and 21 total student-athletes.
As a team, Davidson ranked 11th in the A-10 in shots (241), tied-10th in points (71), tied-ninth in goals (26) and 11th in goals against average (1.65/game).
Individually, Vicky Bruce drove the bus for the Wildcats, leading the team in points (13), assists (nine) and shots (63 – 21 on goal). Leading the way last year for putting goals on the scoreboard was Ashley Finke and Dani Johnson who had five and four goals, respectively.
Goalkeeping for Davidson was a split effort, but Becca Ravitz led the way for the Wildcats. Ravitz logged just over 800 minutes and had 44 saves with only 16 goals allowed. She finished the season with two shutouts.
The Mountaineers have faced Davidson 26 times in program history, owning a 4-19-3 record against the Wildcats. The last time the two teams faced off, Appalachian State won 2-1 in a neck-and-neck overtime contest in 2013.
Notes
Junior Erin Settle and sophomore Jessica Easley are returning from ACL tears that sidelined them last season ... Jenn Bass was granted another year of NCAA eligibility after suffering three ACL tears in the course of her six-year college career also healthy this year for the Mountaineers is junior Sarah Peatross, who has battled injuries the past two years ... junior defender Lindsey Tully was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team after being named first-team all-conference at the end of last season ... the Mountaineers were picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll with South Alabama (first), Troy (second), Coastal Carolina (third), ranking above us ... 12 Mountaineer newcomers could make their collegiate debut this weekend ... three Mountaineers this year hail from Appalachian State's home of Boone, N.C. – Heather Ostwalt, Tristin Derrick, Kassandra Alvarez ... Record Book Watch: senior Jane Cline currently ranks eighth all-time in career goals (16).
