BOONE, N.C. — After staying undefeated at home last Tuesday, Appalachian State University men's soccer goes back on the road for a quick two-match swing against Davidson on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. and UNC Asheville on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.

Continuing to lead the Mountaineers (1-5-1) this season in the offensive third are Stephen Chapman and Jordan Melia. Chapman moved into the point leader for Appalachian after converting his second penalty kick of the season to go along with his two assists to make six points. Melia also has two goals for four points. 

Freshman Graham Smalley rounds out the attackers with one goal this season while Daniel Avila also has one assist.

Leading the way in shots this year has been Melia (14), Chapman (10) and Cooper Coughlin (8).

Freshman Jake Agnew has gotten a chance to perform between the frames and has come in to provide great effort in the net. In just three games played and his first start last Tuesday, Agnew has six saves on 13 shots faced and just one goal allowed.

Taming the Wildcats

The Davidson Wildcats enter the weekend 1-5-0 following dropping a pair of matches on the west coast. The Wildcats continue to be incredibly strong at home, owning a 16-4 record in their last 20 home contests.

As a team, Davidson ranks in the top 5 in the Atlantic-10 Conference in saves with 36 so far this season. They are also fourth in the league in corner attempts with 45.

Individually, senior captains Maxi Pragnell and Christian Fechter are the main offensive threats this season, leading the team in scoring with three and two goals, respectively. Pragnell also leads the team in shots on goal with nine of his 15 total shots while also ranking tied-fifth in the A-10 for shots per game (2.50).

Appalachian and Davidson used to be conference foes when both were members of the Southern Conference. In program history, the two teams have faced off 60 times with the Mountaineers owning a 31-25-4 record. The last faceoff between the two came in 2013 when the Wildcats won a tough 2-1 contest that went into overtime.

Beating the Bulldogs

The UNC Asheville Bulldogs are 1-7 coming into the weekend after dropping a heartbreaking overtime loss to Georgia State on Wednesday – their second straight.

The Bulldogs are currently ninth in the Big South after a tough nonconference schedule, but come out leading the league in saves with 47 (5.88/game). UNCA is also second in the conference in opportunities at set pieces with 53 corners (6.62 per game).

Individually for Asheville, Zach Joens leads his team in points with six so far this season – good for tied-ninth in the Big South. Joens is also tied for sixth in the league in goals with three. On the playmaking side, Andrew Lawrence leads the team with two assists so far and is in the top 5 of the conference.

In the net for the Bulldogs this season is Chris Katt. The goalkeeper leads the Big South with 45 saves this season.

The Mountaineers have faced UNC Asheville 34 times with Appalachian owning a 20-11-3 record against the Bulldogs. The last time the two programs met was last year when App State won a hard-fought 1-0 match.

Notes

Head coach Jason O'Keefe got his first career win as head coach 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 has scored two goals this year, both off of penalty kicks against USC Upstate and Winthrop ... 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.