BOONE, N.C. — After winning their first Sun Belt Conference game of the season, Appalachian State University women's soccer will look to carry momentum forward as they play three of their final four matches at home going into the postseason.

The Mountaineers begin that stretch at home on Friday, Oct. 7 at 3:30 p.m. when they host Little Rock in a short week before traveling to their final road trip of 2016 when they go to longtime rival Georgia Southern on Sunday, Oct. 16. Kickoff in Statesboro is scheduled for 1 p.m.

With the win last week, Appalachian moved just on the cusp of the top 8 in the Sun Belt that would be selected to go to the conference tournament beginning Nov. 2.

The Mountaineers (6-6-2, 1-3-2 Sun Belt) moved back into good standing in the shots category, once again ranking second overall with 231. App State ranks tied-third in points (50), tied-fourth in goals (17) and tied-third in assists (16). A point of pride for the Black and Goal, the team for the first time all the season is second in corners two weeks in a row, still just three behind Troy at (97).

Individually, senior forward Jane Cline still tops the Sun Belt in shots (63) and shots per game (4.50). Her total is a full 18 shots more than the next highest student-athlete. Cline is also the second in the conference in points (16) and goals (seven) after snapping a six-match scoreless streak against ULM. Erin Settle also ranks tied-fourth in points with (11) and tied-fifth in goals (four). Also, after several weeks in a row, Cline now has competition at the top of the clutch rankings, now tied for first with three.

On the playmaking side, Settle also moved up to join Jenn Bass on the assists list at tied for seventh with three for the season.

Trouncing the Trojans

The Little Rock Trojans enter the match 7-6 (2-3 Sun Belt) after going 1-1 last week, defeating Arkansas State but falling to top-ranked South Alabama.

The Trojans fall just behind the Mountaineers in shots at tied-third in shots (223) but are only tied for sixth in points (45). Little Rock is tied-fourth in goals (17) and tied-sixth in assists (16) but where they excel is in the defensive third. Allowing just 10 goals per game, the team is tied-second while being second in goals against average (0.77), however only making 48 saves (tied-10th). 

Individually for the Trojans, Jaclyn Purvine is their biggest offensive threat, having three goals (tied-10th) on the season so far. Right behind her is Harrison Hayworth who has two goals this season, both of which were game-winners. Getting the most amount of attempts up, Shannon Shields pushes their attack forward, having 40 shots this season (tied-fifth).

In the net for Little Rock for the majority of the season has been Sara Small with just under 900 minutes logged. In that time, she's allowed just seven goals (0.70 GAA) and has made 37 saves for four shutouts. She's faced 92 shots.

The Mountaineers have faced Little Rock three times in program history with Appalachian holding a 2-0-1 advantage over the Trojans. In last year's matchup, the Black and Gold won 2-1 to remain unbeaten in the series.

Notes

The Mountaineers began the second half of the season 1-1, getting their first win and second goal of conference play this season ... App State regained the form they had in nonconference against Arkansas State despite the loss, having its second highest on-goal percentage of the season (.545) and having their highest number of shots on goal (12) since Oct. 16, 2015 at UL Monroe (13) ... Appalachian then had a season-high 16 shots on goal against ULM, the most since Oct. 25, 2013 at The Citadel (18) ... the Mountaineers continue to be The Comeback Kids, now having five, 0-1 come-from-behind victories this season (NKU, Radford, Maryland, Gardner-Webb, ULM) ... with the beating of Maryland on Sept. 4, Appalachian State beat their first "Power Five" university in program history and improved to 1-0 against the current Big Ten ... it's the first time since Clemson came to Boone in 2011 that App has hosted a "Power Five" school ... Record Book Watch: senior Cline currently ranks fifth all-time in career goals (23), tied-third in career assists (13), tied-fourth in career points (59) and third in career shots (178) ... Cline also has five game-winning goals, ranking fifth since 2004 ... Cline is only one game-winning goal away this season from tying Dana Murphy (2004) for most game-winning goals in a season with four ... redshirt sophomore Settle was named SBC Offensive-Student Athlete of the Week after scoring two goals in her first matches back from tearing her ACL and being forced to miss last season ... 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 them.