JONESBORO, Ark. (10/21/16) – The Arkansas State women's soccer will host is finale game of the 2016 regular season Sunday afternoon when the squad takes on Georgia Southern at Noon at the A-State Soccer Park.
The Red Wolves find themselves in a heated battle for the race to make the Sun Belt Conference Tournament going into the league's final weekend of play. A-State finds itself in a tie for third-place in the league standings, but has yet to secure its spot as one of the league's top-eight teams to advance to the SBC Tournament in Foley, Ala., in the coming weeks. Arkansas State must await the results of Friday night's games to know what it must do against the Eagles Sunday afternoon to assure their spot in the tournament.
A-State has won three consecutive matches, including a pair of 1-0 victories over Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas and a 2-1 win over Georgia State this past Sunday. The win over the Ragin' Cajuns gives the Red Wolves' the tiebreak at the moment as the two team are in a tie with Little Rock for third place in the standings. The Trojans enter the week as the No. 3 seed in the tournament, followed by A-State at No. 4 and UL Lafayette at No. 5.
Arkansas State has been aided offensively by the strong play of sophomore midfielder Taylor Schneider who has scored three goals in conference play thus far. She also has an assist during league games which puts her in a tie fifth in the league standings for most points during SBC matches.
Junior Bailey Reed has also provided a spark of offense this season and scored her first goal in a Red Wolves' uniform against the Panthers this past Sunday and also added an assist in the match. Junior Taylor Carter ranks fifth in the league with five assists on the year and has helped steady the attack with her solid play on the outside part of the midfield.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Ponder has continued to dominate teams with her play in goal and stands sixth in the nation with 106 saves on the year. She is just two away from tying the school's all-time mark for most saves in a single-season at 108 and is on pace to record the lowest goals against average in a single season with a mark of 1.01 entering this week.
Sunday's match will also serve as senior day for seven A-State players. Mykel Ward, Briana Williams, Sutton Wester, Katherine Padgett, Jacqueline Greer, Darah Merritt and student-assistant Michaela Supple will each be honored in a ceremony before the start of Sunday's match. The ceremony is scheduled to begin approximately 10 minutes before the start of the match.
Admission to Sunday's game is free, while live streaming of the event will be broadcast through the Red Wolves Digital Network for on AStateRedWolves.com.
For the latest on information on the A-State women's soccer team, log onto AStateRedWolves.com or follow the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateSoccer and follow them on Twitter @AStateSoccer.
