BOONE, N.C.  – Appalachian State University field hockey will host the California Golden Bears on Friday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. and will face off against the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 25 at noon at the Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field.

Junior midfielder Rebecca McLean had two breakout performances scoring both of Appalachian's goals this past weekend against Longwood and VCU. McLean slammed a doubled assisted shot past the heels of Longwood's goalkeeper on Saturday and turned around on Sunday to smack in a goal off of a corner. 

The Mountaineers (1-5) are looking to dust off last weekend and grab two victories against their opponents on Friday and Sunday.

Taming the Golden Bears

Despite starting off the season 1-5, California has faced tough opponents in Northeastern, Kent State, Michigan, Maryland, Fairfield and Drexel.

Their sole win came against Fairfield at the Terrapin Invitational. The Golden Bears defeated Fairfield 3-1 and saw goals from Katrina Carter, Melina Moore, and Monica Marrazzo. Although Fairfield held the advantage in shots (14-11) and shots on goal (9-7), the Golden Bears were able to make more connections in the cage and back up their excellent performance with eight saves.

Appalachian will face the strong offensive presence of Moore and Janaye Sakkas. Moore has totaled three goals, one assist, ten shots, four shots on goal, and provided the game-winning shot against Fairfield. Marching behind Moore is Sakkas who has also garnered three goals and has been perfect this season, scoring on all of her attempts at goal.

Protecting the goal line is Kori Griswold who has accumulated 27 saves and has played for 427:29 minutes.

The Mountaineers will encounter their eighth meeting between their foes from the west. In the last match between the Golden Bears at the NorPac Tournament in 2014, California clinched their seventh victory over App State 3-1.

Soaring Past the Cardinals

Appalachian will battle against their second nationally ranked opponent this season in No. 7 Louisville. The Cardinals own a 7-1 record with their only loss coming from the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils.

The Cardinals rank nationally in four categories: second for the lowest goals against average (0.75), fourth in penalty corners per game (9.25), fourth in scoring margin (3.11) and fourth in assist per game (4.13). The ACC squad has already gathered a whopping 31 goals, 151 shots, 93 shots on goal and average 3.88 goals scored per game.

Louisville's offense is spearheaded by Minout Mink who leads in goals (9), shots (27), shots on goal (16) and game-winning goals (3). Flying behind Mink is Erin McCrudden who has orchestrated the perfect plays to set up her teammates to score. McCrudden has calculated nine assists on eight games and currently leads the nation in assist per game (1.13).

Protecting the backfield is Ayeisha McFerran who's goals against average (0.73) is the second-best in the nation with 21 saves and 478:59 minutes under her belt.

Sunday will mark the 15th meeting between the two squads. In the last session, Louisville defeated App 8-1 and extended their record against Appalachian to 8-5-1. App State's five wins came between 1995 and 1999 where the Mountaineers won five straight matches.

Quick Notes

In the last six games, Melissa Nobile leads in scoring with four goals and one game-winner against LIU Brooklyn ... Taylor Cimbalist leads the team in assists (3), shots (14), and shots on goal (10), and has gained three goals ... Savanna Sheridan shares the top of the board with Cimbalist in total assists (3) ... freshman Ali Williams has three goals in the last six games ... Rachel Gaines has collected 32 saves ... App State field hockey will enter into the Mid-American Conference in the fall of 2017 ... six starters return for the 2016 season including leading scorers Cimbalist (17 points), Micaela Diedericks (13 points) and Jordan Van Cleave (10 points) … last year the Mountaineers finished 4-13 in Independent play with key wins against Missouri State, La Salle, Saint Louis, and Davidson … Record Book Watch: Junior Cimbalist currently ranks second all-time in single-season assists (9).