Soccer Ready for Georgia Schools on Friday, Sunday

GM 13 >> Little Rock vs. Georgia Southern
Friday, Oct. 2 • 7 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
GM 14 >> Little Rock vs. Georgia State
Sunday, Oct. 4 • 1 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock soccer team began its 2015 Sun Belt Conference slate with a loss and a tie last weekend in Texas and North Carolina. This weekend, the team is back home and seeking its first wins of the league season. The Trojans will host their annual #TrojanTailgate on Friday at 6 p.m. against Georgia Southern and then play Georgia State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
LEADING OFF

• Little Rock holds a 0-1-1 Sun Belt Conference record this season after an overtime loss at Texas State on Friday and a tie against Appalachian State on Sunday.
• The Trojans have been to overtime for three consecutive games, marking just the second time in school history this has occurred. The team's four overtime games in 2015 is also tied for a school record.
• Four different Trojans have played every minute of the last three overtime games: Sara Small, Bailey Fithian, Mikayla Uyokpeyi and Hali Long.
• Little Rock ranks in the top five among Sun Belt Conference teams in shots, goals, assists and saves.
• Sara Small's 47 saves are the second-best total in the Sun Belt.
• The Trojans have one combined win in four games against the Georgia schools they will play this weekend.

 
FOLLOW THE TROJANS
Fans can monitor all the action by following @LittleRockSoc on Twitter.
 
#TROJANTAILGATE
Before Friday night's game against Georgia Southern, Little Rock will host its second annual Trojan Tailgate featuring free food, drinks and cheering on the Trojans. With game time set for 7 p.m., fans are encouraged to arrive at 6 p.m. for tailgating festivities. Free food and refreshments will be provided by Arvest Bank, and tailgating will be welcome. New Little Rock-branded apparel will be available on site for purchase, and students who have the Maroon Mob app will receive 20 points for attending the game.
 
ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN

• The Eagles, who hail from Statesboro, Ga., have posted a 4-6-1 record so far this season with a 1-1-0 mark in Sun Belt play.
• Georgia Southern defeated ULM 3-0 on Sunday and lost 1-0 to Louisiana in their opening weekend of Sun Belt action. Before league play began, the Eagles had lost their previous two matches to South Florida and North Florida.
• The Eagles have a very high-powered offense, and they lead the Sun Belt in points (74), goals (26) and assists (22). Nora El-Shami is the Sun Belt's top point-getter with 22 total points. Jennifer Wittick is not far behind with 15.
• Conversely, Georgia Southern has allowed the second-most goals in the league, giving up 1.82 per game on average. Top keeper Emily Egan has a 1.23 goals gainst average and has a .765 save percentage.
• Coach Brian Dunleavy is in his second year with Georgia Southern. He has a 20-23-5 record lifetime as the Eagles' coach.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Little Rock and Georgia Southern have met just twice in their history, playing last season when the Eagles were new to the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern won that exciting game in 2014 by a 3-2 score. Fali Garuba and Mikayla Uyokpeyi had the goals for the Trojans.
 
A WIN AGAINST GEORGIA SOUTHERN WOULD…
…be the Trojans' first ever in the series…be Little Rock's first Sun Belt victory this year.
 
ABOUT GEORGIA STATE

• The Panthers, based out of Atlanta, are one of the best teams in the Sun Belt so far this year with an overall record of 8-1-2 and a league record of 2-0-0. Georgia State did not lose until Sept. 20 against Davidson.
• Georgia State defeated both Louisiana schools last weekend, knocking off ULM 1-0 before taking down Louisiana 3-1.
• The Panthers are led on offense by Suzanne Arafa's 13 points on six goals and an assist. Ashley Nagy and Caitlin Ray also have four goals apiece.
• In net, Christa Fox has taken over goalkeeper duties. She holds a 0.71 goals against average – second best in the league – and an .821 save percentage.
• Head coach Derek Leader is in his fourth year with the Panthers, leading them to a 24-32-9 record since arriving in 2012.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST GEORGIA STATE
The three meetings between the Trojans and Panthers have seen one of every result: a Georgia State win, a Little Rock win and a tie. They first played in 1994 but renewed the series when Georgia State joined the Sun Belt in 2013. The teams played to a 1-1 draw last season with the Trojans scoring in the 78th minute and Georgia State forcing the extra period with a goal in the 87th minute.
 
A WIN AGAINST GEORGIA STATE WOULD…
…improve Little Rock to 2-1-1 all-time against the Panthers…be the team's first win against Georgia State since the Panthers joined the Sun Belt.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUN BELT
Since the Trojans joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2000, the team has compiled a record of 34-102-6 in conference games. Little Rock's best conference season came in 2007 when it went 5-5-1 against Sun Belt foes. The Trojans have never finished a conference schedule above .500. Little Rock has finished eighth in the Sun Belt for the last two seasons.
 
ROAD TRIP / HOME STAND
The Trojans just completed a season-long, four-game road trip. With two ties (Texas, Appalachian State), a win (MVSU) and a loss (Texas State), Little Rock ended the four-game stretch 1-1-2. The Trojans now embark on a four-game home stretch, the longest of the season for that. The Trojans will play Friday and Sunday for two consecutive weeks, closing out their home schedule with a game on Oct. 11 against ULM.
 
MORE OVERTIME
Little Rock has now played in three consecutive overtime games, marking just the second time in program history that that has happened. The Trojans last had three straight overtime games on Oct. 21-29, 2010. Before last season's 1-1 tie at Georgia State, the team had gone nearly three full calendar years without an overtime contest.
 
SHIELDS STRIKES AGAIN
In the Trojans' 2-1 loss at Texas State on Friday night, the team got its goal from Shannon Shields. The strike was the junior's team-leading fifth of the season and tied the contest at 1-1 after a Bobcats goal in the 40th minute. Not only is Shields the Trojans' leading scorer, but she is also leading the team in scoring in fewer minutes than other strikers. Shields' five goals have come in 582 minutes and just four starts this year. Scoring one goal every 116 minutes is far better than the next-closest number among players with three goals or more: Jaclyn Purvine's one goal every 277 minutes.
 
IRON WOMEN
With three consecutive overtime games comes three consecutive opportunities for extended playing time. With 324 minutes played during that span, four different Little Rock players have shown they can hang tough. Sara Small, Bailey Fithian, Mikayla Uyokpeyi and Hali Long saw every minute in those three games. Long leads all Trojan this year with 1,073 minutes of playing time, and she has seen 94 percent of all minutes in 2015.
 
EDDY HELPING OUT
While Shields picked up her team-leading fifth goal this weekend, Caitlyn Eddy was grabbing her team-leading fifth assists. Eddy got the helper on Mikayla Uyokpeyi's goal on Sunday at Appalachian State, passing the ball to Uyokpeyi for the finish. No other player on the roster has more than two assists this season.
 
STRANGE LOOKING RIGHT AT HOME
Freshman Logan Strange did not have a start this season until Sept. 20 at Texas, and since that time she has been a fixture in the lineup. Strange played 90 minutes at Texas State and 58 against Appalachian State, earning as many minutes in the last three contests (233) than she had in her first five (174) this year.
 
SUN BELT STAT RANKINGS
With conference play beginning, the Trojans compare well with other teams in the league. Through last weekend's games, Little Rock is fifth in the league with 166 shots, tied for fifth with 56 points and fourth with 53 saves. On the individual side, Caitlyn Eddy is tied for second with five assists and Small is second with 47 saves.
 
SMALL WINS CONFERENCE AWARD AGAIN
Junior goalie Sara Small came up big on Sept. 20, making eight saves to keep Texas off the scoreboard for all 110 minutes of the 0-0 tie. For that excellence, she was named the SBC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Small's shutout was her second complete clean sheet this season, as she also made 13 saves against Ole Miss on Sept. 6 while shutting out the Rebels during the regulation 90 minutes.
 
Small became the first Trojan to ever win two weekly conference awards in one season and just the second Trojan to ever claim two weekly awards in her career (Grace Rich). This is also the first time in Little Rock history that players have earned two weekly awards in the same year.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
For the second consecutive year, Little Rock entered league play with an above-.500 record in non-conference play. Last year's Trojans were 9-0 before facing Appalachian State to begin the league slate, and this year's team held a 5-4-1 record before facing Texas State on Sept. 25. Before 2014, the team had not posted a winning non-conference record since 2007. This also marks the first time in program history that the team has back-to-back winning non-conference years.
 
BALANCED ATTACK
Little Rock's offensive attack has been highly balanced so far this year, as eight different players have recorded goals for the Trojans. The same can be said of the assist numbers, as 11 different players have at least one assist this year. All told, 14 different players have at least one point this season, and that total is more than half of the field players who have seen action in 2015.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Texas State and Appalachian State:

• Hali Long reached 3,000 minutes played, Fali Garuba reached 2,000 career minutes played and Caitlyn Eddy and Bailey Fithian played their 1,000th minutes.

Coming soon:

• Shannon Shields is one point away from 10 in her Trojan career.
• Sara Cavanagh is two saves away from 60.
• Quin Wilkes one more goal for 10.
• Nora Hellmers is two minutes away from 1,000 in her career.
   

UP NEXT
The Trojans finish off their home schedule next weekend, hosting schools from The Bayou State at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex. Little Rock takes on Louisiana on Friday at 7 p.m. before closing out the home slate with ULM on Sunday at 1 p.m.