BOONE, N.C. — Senior Stephen Chapman scored two goals to push Appalachian State University men's soccer passed Howard in a chippy 2-0 game on Saturday evening at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.
The Mountaineers (4-5-2 (1-0 Sun Belt) continued to stay hot in recent games, stretching their unbeaten streak to five games and their unbeaten streak at home to 3-0-2 while the Bison (1-10-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) are still winless in the Sun Belt since 2014.
"Really proud of the guys tonight," head coach Jason O'Keefe said. "Howard came in ready to battle and they're a physical team and I'm pleased we were able to match them. We hit the reset button after we went 1-5. We said, 'OK, this is the next phase of our season.' Conference play was at the tail end of it, so we new it was going to be a new season then but we really started our new season four games earlier because I knew we had to build and continue to grow and improve, building some confidence to maybe win a game like this. We're 1-0 in the league and we're ecstatic about it but now we have to get ready for Hartwick."
To get its first lead-off Sun Belt victory, Appalachian would need to be focused and strong with their effort against a physical Howard squad and that's exactly what they got. While the goals didn't come until late in the match, the defense held strong for 51 minutes.
Freshman Jake Agnew stayed unbeaten as a freshman goalkeeper, improving to 3-0-2 after making three tough saves, and recorded his second-straight shutout. Sophomore defender Ian Bennett also helped in the effort, coming in to head out a ball flying to the net after Agnew got dragged away from position.
In an overall very chippy and physical game, things came to a tipping point when a scuffle at the Howard net drew several cards, including a red card on the Bison that would set up a penalty kick for Chapman. After a decent delay as officials sorted things out, Chapman continued his 100 percent conversion rate, knocking down his fourth PK of the year in the 52nd minute.
The Mountaineers stayed on their mission and continued to battle, turning up the pressure on the Bison defense.
Chapman would put the game away in the 61st minute when he finally broke the seal, recording his first non-penalty goal of the season, when freshman Graham Smalley found him on a hard pass through the box that Chapman took and lasered in.
Leading the Mountaineer offensive effort was Chapman, who finished with four shots total, two on goal. Junior Cooper Coughlin also kept the pressure on, firing away three total shots for one on goal, while sophomore Daniel Avila and senior Jordan Melia had two shots.
Rounding out the attack was Donovan Japp, Rian Phillips, Raheem Somersall and Ben Steen.
Second Season
Since the Mountaineers' first win back on Sept. 13, the team has found its rhythm at the right time heading into conference play. Appalachian has scored 10 goals since the win off six assists, totaling 92 shots (36 on goal – .391)
Since the first win, the Black and Gold have gone 4-1-2 and are unbeaten in their last five matches, outshooting opponents 92-61 with a 36-31 advantage on goal.
App State won its lead-off Sun Belt game for the first time since joining and it had to do with the marksmanship of the team. The Apps outshot Howard 15-5 and had 11 corners to their two.
Looking Forward
The Mountaineers will look to continue recent play as they head to their lone road match in the month of October, facing Hartwick on Saturday, Oct. 15. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.
