Game Notes
SAN MARCOS, Texas – After opening up the conference slate on the road, the Bobcats return to the Bobcat Soccer Complex for a pair of home matches against Georgia State and Western Kentucky.
On Friday evening, the Bobcats welcome Georgia State to San Marcos. Under the direction of Derek Leader, Georgia State enters the weekend with a 3-6-1 overall record and a 1-1-0 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.
To begin Sun Belt action, the Panthers played matches against Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe. The Ragin' Cajuns picked up the 3-0 victory against the Panthers before Georgia State turned around to defeat Louisiana-Monroe in a 2-0 shutout.
The Panthers have scored 10 goals so far this season with Jordan Young owning three of them. Ashley Nagy is the team's shot leader with 34 and she has also contributed two goals of her own. Of Georgia State's 10 goals thus far, the Panthers have scored seven of those in the second half of action.
Brie Haynes is the lone goalkeeper for the Panthers as she has recorded all 923 minutes of playing time in goal. She has allowed 1.66 goals per game and has tallied 17 saves so far this season.
Western Kentucky enters the weekend at the top of the Sun Belt Conference, posting two victories in its first two conference matches. The Hilltoppers defeated Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette in 2-0 shutouts on their home turf.
Coming into the weekend, the Hilltoppers are 4-3-4 overall. One of Western Kentucky's four ties came against Rice, a team that the Bobcats also tied earlier this season.
The Hilltoppers are led offensively by freshman Iris Dunn. Dunn earned Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors this past weekend as she recorded two of the Hilltoppers four goals. She currently has three goals and one assist this season.
Nora Abolins is Western Kentucky's primary goalkeeper. She also earned player of the week honors last weekend after recording two shutouts to start conference play. She owns a .840 save percentage and has allowed only eight goals this season.
The Hilltoppers are coached by Jason Neidell who is in his 13th season at Western Kentucky.
Quotes from head coach
Kat Conner
Looking into this weekend, are you and the athletes excited about your first home Sun Belt game?
"Well, we are proud to have gone into Alabama and to come back with four points. We need to build off of that to get a championship run. It's always exciting to play in front of your home crowd and I think they'll be ready to come in and be a bit more focus because they know that you're playing against two great teams that could be up there possibly spoiling the championship run."
What is something that the team is working on to keep the scoring momentum alive?
"We're trying to build on their confidence going forward and to try to be more of a threat attacking. We worked on that yesterday and again today we'll work more on trying to create different runs to get in behind so there will be more options to the goal."
Another highlight for this upcoming weekend is the welcoming of the New Braunfels Youth Soccer Association to Sunday's contest. At the conclusion of the match against Western Kentucky, members of the NBYSA are welcome to partake in a clinic that is run by the Texas State soccer staff. All youth members who wear their jersey to the game will get in for free. Texas State athletics will also have a bounce house available for youth before and during the match.
