App State lost the previous three matches in women’s soccer going into a road game Thursday in Fort Myers, Florida, against Florida Gulf Coast to close out non-conference play. The Mountaineers and the Eagles played just once before, a year ago in Boone, where the Black and Gold took home a 3-0 win.
The game started out slowly, with neither team scoring in the first half. Both teams took six shots and both goalkeepers made two saves. Two of the three shots on target by App State happened in the first eight minutes of the game, one by graduate student forward Izzi Wood and one by freshman forward Ellie Garrison.
The scoring started 11 minutes after the second half started. Wood notched her fourth goal of the season, with Garrison and redshirt freshman forward Kyli Switalski both getting credited for an assist.
Twenty seconds later, the Mountaineers got right back down the pitch, and Garrison found the back of the net to make it 2-0 in the matter of seconds. It was Garrison’s third goal of the season and it was assisted by senior forward Stephanie Barbosa.
Both of these goals were scored in the 57th minute, and it was all the Mountaineers needed. FGCU got a goal back in the 62nd minute, but the Black and Gold defense held up for the rest of the match. App State got a much-needed win on the road to get some momentum headed into conference play.
In total, both teams took six shots in both halves. However, App State was able to put it on goal three times in the second half, with two of them getting past the goalkeeper of FGCU. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sarah Wommack recorded two saves on the night, both of them in the first half.
App State committed a total of eight fouls, four in the first half and four in the second half. FGCU on the other hand committed nine fouls, only two in the first half, but seven in the second half.
App State opens up conference play back on the road for a battle with rival Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers won the last match between the two, but the Eagles won the last three before that.
