FOLEY, Ala. — After a scoreless first half, Appalachian State University women's soccer came out of the intermission on fire, scoring three goals in the span of 19 minutes to power it past UL Lafayette 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex.
"I'm so proud of this group," head coach Sarah Strickland. "They stayed together and found a way to get a result against a very good UL Lafayette team. We will rest and prepare for the semifinals. I'm grateful for all of the families, alumni and fans that watched online posted messages and supported our program throughout this journey!"
With the win, the Mountaineers (10-7-2) advance to the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Championship tournament for the second straight year and shutting out the Ragin' Cajuns (8-9-2) for the second time in 10 days.
The first half was a battle over the middle with the Black and Gold getting many chances UL Lafayette's defensive third, but they were unable to finish the play through. Appalachian outshot ULL 10-3 in the first half, but weren't able to put one in the net.
The floodgates would open 13 minutes into the second half when Jenn Bass sent it to Jane Cline who touched it right to Jackie Nieradka who fired it home from 20 yards out, straight on.
Despite only having four total shots in the second half, three of them would be for goals and the second would come in the 66th minute when Nieradka found Erin Settle streaking through the defense for the goal.
For the second game in a row, freshman Maggie Hanusek was a burst of energy off the bench and came in to provide key moments on both sides of the field. No moment more important than when she put the nail in the coffin in the 77th minute, firing the ball into the back of the net from the left wing on a dish from Sarah Peatross.
The Mountaineers wound up outshooting the Ragin' Cajuns 14-9 on the day, getting nine shots on goal to their five. Sam Steyl got her fourth shutout of the season, making five saves on the game.Â
Leading App State offensively was Nieradka who had four shots total, two on goal, followed closely by Cline who had three shots on goal. Settle and Hanusek both had two shots, one on goal, for the day, while Kelly Flanders, Sharon Osterbind and Brie Bahlmann finished the day with one shot.
The Mountaineers will move on to the semifinals for a rematch of the 2015 Sun Belt Championship semifinals game facing off with the No. 1 seeded South Alabama on Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ESPN3. Appalachian downed the Jaguars 4-3 in double overtime in a wild thriller on Oct. 23.
Notes
Hanusek scored a goal off the sideline for the second-straight game ... Cline's assist moves her into tied for second in program history in career assists (14) ... Both Bass' and Nieradka's assists moves them into tied-10th all-time for most assists in a single season ... Cline now has 25 points on the year, moving her into tied for first all-time in single-season points ... Appalachian moves to 6-1 all-time against opponents from the state of Louisiana (six straight wins) ... App State is currently riding a four game win streak and have won five of their last six games ... with the three goals, the Mountaineers have scored at least two goals in each of its last five games.
