BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University men's soccer continues Sun Belt play in its final home game of the 2016 regular season when it hosts Georgia State (Senior Day) on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Campbell on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.
Despite the tough overtime loss to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, the Mountaineers (4-6-3, 1-1-1 Sun Belt) have been a formidable foe on both sides of the field since their first win on Sept. 13 (USC Upstate). Since then, Appalachian has gone 4-2-2 and is 3-1-2 in their last six.
The offensive attack has been an all-around effort, with seniors Stephen Chapman and Jordan Melia leading the team in shots with 24 and 21, respectively. The two also lead the team in points with 14 and six respectively. Melia and junior Rian Phillips have two goals on the year while sophomore Raheem Somersall and freshman Graham Smalley have one each.
Helping find the angles on goals, junior Daniel Avila joins Melia and Chapman at the top of the assist charts with all of them having two this season. Also contributing this season to the effort, sophomore Ian Bennett and Smalley have one each.
The reigning two-time Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week Jake Agnew continues to be a rock between the posts for Appalachian. The freshman went six-straight games without losing a game and had three-straight shutouts at one point. In his five games starting, Agnew has made 15 saves and only allowed two goals in his last four games, going 330 minutes without allowing one at one point.
Pouncing on the Panthers
The Georgia State Panthers enter this weekend 9-6 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Panthers are coming off a 2-0 win over Jacksonville and got their first conference win with a 3-1 victory over Howard.
Georgia State currently leads the league with a red-hot offense, ranking first in shots (203), points (83), goals (31), assists (21). Defensively, however, the Panthers rank fifth in goals allowed (22; 1.47/game) and goals against average (1.43).
Individually, leading the Panthers' offensive attack is Max Hemmings, Frank Rosenwalf and Hannes Burmeister. Hemmings ranks third in the conference in shots (37), while Rosenwalf and Burmeister rank tied-eighth (21). Burmeister, however, leads the league in points (19), after having eight goals and three assists this season. Hemmings isn't far behind with 16 points off seven goals and two assists, while Rosenwald has four goals and one assist for nine points.
The playmakers for GSU, Liam Fitzsimmons, Rashid Alarape and Burmeister are tied-second in the league with three assists each. Right behind them are Andrew Thompson, Amiri Abraham, Nick Hague and Hemmings with two assists apiece.
The lone goalkeeper in the net for the Panthers this season has eben Yannic Horn. In 1,386 minutes, Horn has made 46 saves, had two clean sheets and allowed 22 goals.
The Mountaineers have faced off against the Panthers eight times in program history with Georgia State owning a 5-3 record. Last season's battle ended in a 3-0 win for GSU.
Chasing the Camels
The Campbell Camels are currently 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the Big South. The Camels are coming off two losses, one to Liberty and one to Duke.
Campbell usually ranks toward the middle of the pack of the Big South. They are currently fifth in shots (56) and points (56) and tied-fourth in goals with nine on the year. The team is fourth in the league in saves, however, with 52.
Individually, Pepe Rangel leads the team in shots with 25, while Gabe Parrish leads the team in goals (five) and points (12). Leading the team in assists is J. Signey who has three on the year, while Parrish and T. Gonzalez have two each as well.
In the goal for the Camels is Matthew Mozynski. The junior goalkeeper has logged just over 1,100 minutes and has 52 saves on the year, allowing just 27 goals.
The Mountaineers have faced off against Campbell 16 times in program history, with the Camels owning a 9-6-1 record. The last time the teams met was in 2010 when Appalachian State won the match 1-0.
Notes
After spending much of the nonconference schedule on the road, the Mountaineers return for a major October homestand, playing four of their five games in Boone ... The next four games will be against Sun Belt foes ... Chapman finally got on a roll against Howard after converting his fourth PK this season, the senior finally found an in-play goal in the 61st minute ... Rian Phillips had a two-match streak (Davidson and UNC Asheville), having a goal in each and a game-winner in each ... Jake Agnew was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 11 ... Chapman was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 27 ... 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 ... 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) ... Somersall is currently training with the St. Kitts national team and will be out for two weeks ... App State welcomes 13 newcomers this season, with eight of them being freshmen and the other five being transfers.
