Women's Soccer | 9/23/2015 1:45:00 PM

 
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State soccer team finished the non-conference slate with a 6-2 overall record and will now begin conference play this weekend at home against Little Rock and Arkansas State. The Bobcats, coming off a 4-2 victory against Lamar last Sunday, are riding on a conference-high five match winning streak.
 
Texas State's Lauren Prater has been a key piece to the puzzle this non-conference season as she leads the Bobcats with seven goals. Against Lamar, Prater recorded her first-ever hat trick and the first Texas State hat trick since 2010. She then won the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week honors for her phenomenal performance against the Lady Cardinals.
 
Conference Consistency
This season marks the first time since 2011 that the Bobcats will have remained and competed in the same conference for three consecutive seasons. In 2012, Texas State moved from the Southland to the WAC and in 2013 the Bobcats began play in the Sun Belt.
 
In SBC play, Texas State is 9-6-2 overall and has reached the semifinal match each of its first two years in the league.
 
Lynsey Curry and Elizabeth Havenhill were named First and Second-Team All-Conference last season, respectively. So far this season, Curry has recorded two goals with four assists and Havenhill has played in every minute for the Bobcats as the center defender.
 
A Look At The Competition – Little Rock
Little Rock enters the conference slate with a 5-4-1 overall record and most recently a shutout tie against the Texas Longhorns. Twice this season the Trojans have forced overtime and only the match against Texas resulted in a tie. The second overtime match this season was against Ole Miss on September 6. On the road this year, the Trojans are 2-3-1 overall.
 
Shannon Shields leads the Trojans in goals scored with four and total points with nine. Fali Garuba, Quin Wilkes, and Jaclyn Purvine have all notched three goals apiece this season.
 
With a 13-save shutout against Texas, Little Rock goalkeeper Sara Small was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week. She has a total of 39 saves this season and a 0.96 goals against average.
 
A Look At The Competition – Arkansas State
The Arkansas State Red Wolves enter the first weekend of conference play with a 2-7-0 overall record and 0-2-0 record on the road. The two victories this season for the Red Wolves are against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State.
 
The Red Wolves are under the direction of first year head coach Brian Dooley. Dooley spent the previous two seasons as the associate head coach at Missouri after a 14-year stint as the head coach of Florida Atlantic.
 
Jordan Adams and Katey Carmichael lead A-State with a pair of goals each. Kassie Flynn has recorded four of the 11 Arkansas State assists thus far. Kelsey Ponder has put in the most goalkeeper minutes for the Red Wolves, but in all time has been divided out between three different keepers. Alexis Philippe, with 270 minutes played, owns a team-low goals against average of 1.67 and is second on the team with 22 saves.
 
Follow the Bobcats
To stay up to date with the Texas State soccer team, go online to www.txstatebobcats.com or follow the soccer team on Facebook (Texas State Soccer), Twitter (@TxStateSoccer) or Instagram (@TxStateSoccer).