LR Set for Season's Final Home Matches

GM 15 >> Little Rock vs. ULM
Friday, Oct. 9 • 7 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
GM 16 >> Little Rock vs. Louisiana
Sunday, Oct. 11 • 1 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
 
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan soccer team will be saying goodbye to the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex for 2015 this weekend, playing host to ULM and Louisiana in the final home matches of the season. Little Rock takes on the Warhawks on Friday at 7 p.m., before hosting Louisiana on Sunday at 1 p.m., in the team's annual Pink Game.
 
LEADING OFF

• Little Rock had an excellent weekend when the Georgia schools came to town, knocking off then-league leader Georgia State 3-0 and tying Georgia Southern 0-0.
• Sara Small earned two shutouts on the weekend, earning 200 minutes' worth of clean sheets. She has not allowed a goal in the last 225 minutes of action.
• Little Rock enters this weekend in seventh place in the league standings but three points ahead of ninth place. The Trojans' opponents are ranked eighth and 10th in the league before Friday's games.
• The Trojans' three-goal outburst on Sunday was its first three-goal game against a league opponent since October 2012.
• Little Rock's RPI is currently at 111, the best in school history. The team's previous best RPI was 165 back in 2009.
• Little Rock ranks in the top five among Sun Belt Conference teams in shots, goals, goals allowed, assists, goals against average and saves.
• Little Rock split with the Louisiana schools last year, defeating ULM but losing to Lousiana.

 
FOLLOW THE TROJANS
Fans can monitor all the action by following @LittleRockSoc on Twitter.
 
PINK GAME
Sunday's home finale against Louisiana will be the Trojans' annual pink game during which the team will wear pink accents on their uniforms. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as well. The Relay for Life organization will be on hand to discuss ways to help cancer charities.
 
ABOUT ULM

• The Warhawks, based in Monroe, La., hold a 6-8-1 record so far this year and are 0-4-0 in the Sun Belt conference. ULM in last place in the league standings.
• In the opening two weeks of league play, the Warhawks have posted losses against Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Troy and South Alabama by a combined score of 8-2. The team was on a three-game winning streak before starting conference play.
• Mariah Mitchell is currently the team's leader with four goals on the season, though Karlea Fehr tops the team with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Kelley O'Dwyer is also in double-digit point scoring with three goals and four assists for 10 points.
• In net, Julia Idal Gonzalez is one of the league's best. She has a 0.70 goals against average and an .875 save percent, both numbers that put her on top of the league standings. She has split time this year, though, trading off with Brooke Scroggins and her 1.56 goals against average.
• Roberto Mazza is the Warhawks' head coach for the fourth year. He has a 24-45-3 record in charge of ULM.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST ULM
Little Rock holds a winning record all-time against ULM, leading the lifetime series 9-6. The Trojans have won two in a row in the series, four out of the last five and seven out of the last nine games. Last season, the Trojans went to Monroe and handed the Warhawks a 2-0 loss on goals from Louise Kallin and Lexus VanPelt. Little Rock has not hosted ULM since 2012.
 
A WIN AGAINST ULM WOULD…
…be the Trojans' third straight ever in the series…be the Trojans' first home win against ULM since 2011…be the team's second straight Sun Belt win…keep the Trojans above the cut-off line for the Sun Belt Tournament.
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA

• The Ragin' Cajuns, based out of Lafayette, La., hold a 7-6-1 record so far this season but are just 1-3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. They currently occupy the eight spot in the league standings, one place behind Little Rock.
• Louisiana picked up its lone conference win against Georgia Southern to open league play before losing three straight matches to Georgia State, South Alabama and Troy.
• Annika Schmidt is leading the Cajuns on offense this year, scoring six goals and adding two assists for 14 total points. Her next closest teammate is Ashleigh Cade with her two goals and three assists for seven points.
• In net, Cosette Morche is the top goalie for Louisiana. She has posted a 1.09 goals against average this year and allowed 11 goals on 81 shots. She has a .864 save percentage.
• Scot Wieland is back for his 11th year coaching the Cajuns. He holds a record of 76-108-24 in his tenure leading Louisiana.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST LOUISIANA
The Cajuns have a large lifetime advantage against the Trojans, winning 11 of 15 total contests in the series. Louisiana has won three consecutive games in the series including a close 2-1 contest in Lafayette last year. The Trojans' last victory against the Cajuns came in 2011 in overtime in Little Rock.
 
A WIN AGAINST LOUISIANA WOULD…
…break a three-game losing streak against the Cajuns, giving the team its first win in the series since 2011.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUN BELT
Since the Trojans joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2000, the team has compiled a record of 35-102-7 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.
 
TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
The Trojans are currently seventh in the league standings, one spot ahead of eighth-place Louisiana for the final place in the Sun Belt Tournament. Little Rock could solidify its tournament position with two victories this weekend over teams currently below them in the standings.
 
BEST RPI EVER
When the NCAA released its weekly RPI numbers on Monday, the Trojans found themselves ranked No. 111 in the nation. That ranking was a boost of 63 places from the week before and now stands as the Trojans' highest RPI in school history. The previous best came at the end of the 2009 season when the team was ranked No. 165.
 
CLEANING UP
Little Rock goalkeeper Sara Small has been playing very well throughout the season, and last weekend she added to that resume with two clean sheets against the Georgia schools. Small played 200 minutes of flawless goalkeeping, dropping her goals against average to a tiny 0.86 and upping her save percentage to .829. Small is the two-time Sun Belt Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week and now has four solo shutouts on the year.
 
MANY MINUTES
One other impressive number Small boasts is her minutes played. The junior has seen action in 1,259 minutes this year – 94 percent of the Trojans' total – and is ranked 11th in the nation in minutes played among goalies as of Wednesday morning. If Small had played all 1,339 minutes of Trojan soccer this season, she would lead the country.
 
THREE-GOAL OUTBURST
Little Rock's victory over then-league leading Georgia State on Sunday was a huge offensive outburst for a team that had not been scoring many goals in league play. The Trojans had scored one or zero goals in its three previous Sun Belt contests this year and had not scored two goals in a league game since October 18, 2014. Going back farther, Little Rock's most recent three-goal league game was in October 2012 against Florida Atlantic.
 
SUN BELT STAT RANKINGS
Now in the middle of conference play, the Trojans compare well with other teams in the league. Through last weekend's games, Little Rock is third in the league with 21 assists, fourth with 14 goals allowed, third with a 0.94 goals against average, fourth with 64 saves and second with five shutouts. The team is also in the top five for goals and points.
 
On the individual side, Caitlyn Eddy is third in the league with six assists while Sara Small is third in the league with a 0.86 goals against average, fifth with a .829 save percentage and second with 58 saves.
 
ROAD TRIP / HOME STAND
The Trojans are halfway through their longest homestand of the season, and the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex has been kind to them this year. The Trojans are 4-1-1 in Little Rock this year but just 2-4-2 on the road. This weekend's games are the final home games of the season for the Trojans.
 
OVERTIME ON REPEAT
With Friday night's 0-0 draw against Georgia Southern, the Trojans reached overtime for the fourth consecutive game and fifth time this season. The team had never seen overtime in four consecutive games in all of program history. Little Rock playing in five overtime games in one year is also a program first.
 
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.
 
OUT-ASSITING THE OPPOSITION
Through 14 games, Little Rock has held its opponents to only six total assists this year. Despite opponents scoring a total of 14 goals, only six were assisted. For comparison, Little Rock's 22 goals have seen a total of 21 assists.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Georgia Southern and Georgia State:

• Shannon Shields recorded her 10th career point.
• Nora Hellmers played her 1,000th minute.

Coming soon:

• Sara Cavanagh is two saves away from 60.
• Quin Wilkes one more goal for 10.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock finishes the 2015 regular season with three consecutive road games, and none are bigger than the Trojans' rivalry contest next Friday. Little Rock heads to Jonesboro for a 4 p.m. game on Oct. 16 with Arkansas State.