For the first time in 35 days, App State hosted a home match against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Thursday. A physical and fast-paced game went wire to wire, as the Mountaineers scored their first goal in the fourth minute and the Chanticleers equalized in the 88th minute.
Graduate student forward Izzi Wood scored her seventh and eighth goals of the season and 22nd and 23rd of her career with the early opener and a 62nd-minute goal. Twenty-three career goals moves Wood into fifth place on the all-time scoring list at App State and marks her seventh goal in as many games.
Coastal Carolina came into Boone with a dreadful offense so far this season, ranking last in both shots and shots on goal in the Sun Belt. The defensive side of the Chanticleers has seen more success, allowing only 1.2 goals a game this season which is good for sixth in the conference.
The game started quickly as Wood found a pass from sophomore midfielder Olivia Simon after Simon stole the ball from Coastal Carolina and pushed it forward to find the graduate student striker for the fourth-minute goal.
After the goal, the Chanticleers attempted to force the Mountaineers to play to their slow-build-up style of play in an attempt to find holes in the defense, but great defending from the Mountaineers’ midfield stopped any chance of that early in the game. The midfield presence allowed the Black and Gold to dominate the shot chart as they outshot Coastal Carolina 6-1 through the first 20 minutes of the game.
In the 22nd minute, junior defender Shannon Studer returned from an injury that kept her sidelined for the last three games. Studer played 68 minutes but did not record a stat in the game.
The rest of the half stayed the same as the Chanticleers attempted to play slow, but the App State midfield did not allow them to get their plays past the box. The Mountaineers went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Physical play was the name of the game for the Mountaineers during the first half. A yellow card for senior defender Mumu Guisasola in the 22nd minute highlighted four fouls throughout the half.
App State came out of the intermission firing, accumulating a corner and a shot off of a mistake from a Chanticleer defender but could not capitalize on their chance. With the constant pressure to start the half, the Mountaineer back line continued to push up and Coastal Carolina took advantage and zoomed past the defense to make the game tied at 1-1 in the 51st minute.
The Mountaineers seemed tired and sluggish after the Chanticleer goal but 10 minutes after the equalizer, freshman forward Ellie Garrison found Wood in the box with a header that Wood put away for her second goal of the day and a 2-1 App State lead.
After Wood’s brace, the Chanticleers abandoned their slow style of play and opted for a faster and more wing-heavy attack that gave the Black and Gold some trouble in the final 20 minutes.
The final five minutes saw the most action of the game from Coastal Carolina as they finally busted through the App State back line and found a chance, but redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sarah Wommack stopped the shot before it went out for a goal kick. A wonky goal kick from Wommack allowed another Chanticleer chance before senior midfielder Sarah Widderich fouled a Coastal Carolina player for a free kick that she converted for the 2-2 tie in the 88th minute.
The Mountaineers were unable to get a good chance after the equalizer and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Mountaineers move to 5-3-4 overall and 2-0-2 in the Sun Belt Conference, which is good for fifth in the conference overall and third in their division. This is the second year in a row the team has been unbeaten through four conference games after not achieving that feat since 2013.
App State soccer is back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. against Marshall as they take on the Thundering Herd in Huntington, West Virginia. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
