BOONE, N.C. — After getting into the win column on Sept. 13 with a convincing victory against USC Upstate, Appalachian State University men's soccer heads into a one-off road match against Longwood on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. before returning home on Tuesday, Sept. 20 to host Winthrop at 7 p.m.
Leading the Mountaineers (1-4) so far this season on the offensive end has been Jordan Melia who was relished with more scoring opportunities after being moved from defender to the midfield in the spring. Melia leads all scorers with two goals so far.
Right behind Melia is Stephen Chapman. Chapman finally got one through the frame on Sept. 13, capitalizing on a penalty kick late in the match. Also with one is freshman Graham Smalley. Smalley scored his first collegiate goal against USC Upstate and is one of only two true freshmen in the starting lineup.
Leading the way in shots this season has been Melia (10), Chapman (5) and Thibaut Arpinon and Smalley with three each.
Still protecting the goal for Appalachian State this season is Jake Chasteen. With over 400 minutes played, Chasteen has allowed just nine goals on 64 shots faced, making 21 saves – good for tied-second in the Sun Belt.
Outrunning the Lancers
The Longwood Lancers enter Saturday's matchup fifth in the Big South, currently 2-2-1. Last year the Lancers finished 9-9-1 and 4-4-1 against the conference.
After narrowly losing 1-0 to No. 17 Virginia in a preseason exhibition, Longwood has spent all but one match on the road and are coming off a 1-0 loss to Virginia Tech.
So far this season, Longwood has ranked third in shots (77), fifth in points (22), tied-fourth in goals (eight) and tied-fifth in assits (six). But while, their offense trends to the middle of the pack, where the Lancers shine is on defense. The team ranks second in the league in goals allowed (four) and goals against average (0.77) and is tied for second in shutouts with two this season.
Individually, Finnlay Wyatt and Mo Jalloh lead the team in shots, also ranking both first and third with 19 and 15, respectively. Coming up in clutch situations, Jalloh and Connor Rea both have game-winning goals this season as well.
On the playmaking side, finding the scorers has been done by committee for the Lancers as six student-athletes have tallied assists through the first five matches.
Pulling the majority of the time in the net for Longwood has been Carlos Canas. Logging just over 450 minutes this season, he's allowed just four goals and had 20 saves.
Appalachian State has faced off against the Lancers five times in program history, owning a 3-2-0 record. The last time the two teams have faced-off was last year in a 2-0 Longwood win in Boone.
Clipping the Eagles
The Winthrop Eagles are 3-3 before the weekend, ranking third in the Big South. Last year, the Eagles tied for first in the Big South at 7-1-1 against conference foes and 11-7-2 overall. While outstanding at home last season (7-1), Winthrop struggled on the road and at neutral sites (4-6).
As a team, the Eagles have struggled early to get goals and points, ranking toward the bottom of the Big South, but they rank tied-seventh (four) and tied-second in shutouts (two).
Individually for Winthrop, Rasmus Arousell and Jogvan Jacobsen have been leading the way offensively. Arousell leads his team in shots (10), which is also good for tied-ninth in the conference, while also leading the team in goals with two. Jacobsen has carried the load, playmaking-wise, leading the team and tying for third in the conference in assists with two.
In the net for the Eagles this season has been mainly Kenneth Perkinson. Logging 360 minutes between the frames, Perksinson has allowed just seven goals and made 12 saves on 56 shots faced. He has one shutout on the season.
The Mountaineers haved faced Winthrop 16 times all-time, owning a 9-5-2 record against the Eagles. The last time the two teams met was last year when Winthrop won 2-0.
Notes
Head coach Jason O'Keefe got his first career win at the helm of the Mountaineers on Sept. 13 when they downed USC Upstate 3-1 in their home opener ... O'Keefe previously was an assistant coach at North Carolina ... senior captain Jordan Melia currently leads the team in goals (two) after being moved from defender to the midfield last spring ... senior forward Chapman was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team after being named first-team all-conference at the end of last season ... after leading App State in goals and points last year, Chapman finally got one through on a penalty kick against USC Upstate on Sept. 13 ... the Mountaineers were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll ... 15 Mountaineers hail from Appalachian's home state of North Carolina, while five come from outside the U.S. (Jeremy Tshongo - Western Australia; Raheem Somersall - Basseterre, St. Kitts; Jordan Melia - Manchester, England; Thibaut Arpinon - Nimes, France; Felix Kollmannthaler - Frankfurt, Germany) ... App State welcomes 13 newcomers this season, with eight of them being freshmen and the other five being transfers ... of the newcomers, two (Graham Smalley and Camden Harrison) have earned spots on the starting 11.
