Trojans Travel to Devilettes for Thursday Game

GM 09 >> Little Rock at Mississippi Valley State
Thursday, Sept. 17 • 6 p.m. (CST)
Itta Bena, Miss. • MVSU Soccer Field
Game Notes
 
LITTLE ROCK – The final week of non-conference play is upon the Trojans, and they will head to Mississippi on Thursday to kick it off. Little Rock will take on Mississippi Valley State at 6 p.m. on the Devilettes' home turf.
 
LEADING OFF

• Little Rock suffered a tough loss at home on Sunday, falling to Missouri State by a 2-1 score after taking a 1-0 lead in the early going.
• Jaclyn Purvine had the goal for the Trojans on Sunday, scoring in the 13th minute for her second strike of the season.
• Little Rock's loss on Sunday was its first non-conference home loss since September 2013, breaking a streak of 10 straight non-conference wins at the Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex.
• Freshman Caitlyn Eddy ranks 25th in the nation in total assists with four this season.
• The Trojans hold a 3-0 record all-time against Mississippi Valley State and have never conceded a goal against the Devilettes.
   

FOLLOW THE TROJANS
Fans can monitor all the action by following @LittleRockSoc on Twitter.
 
ABOUT MVSU

• The Devilettes, based out of Itta Bena, Miss., are 2-5 so far this season. They have a 6-0 victory over Delta State and a 2-0 victory over UTRGV to their name.
• MVSU has suffered losses to Arkansas State and ULM out of the Sun Belt Conference as well as Central Arkansas, Oral Roberts and Southeastern Louisiana. They are being outscored 20-12 this year.
• Leading the way on offense for the Devilettes is Nykosi Simmons with five goals this season. Ernestina Abambila, Laadi Issaka and Mariana Balbao all have two goals apiece.
• In net, Rita Gyasi has played all but 18 minutes of the year for MVSU. She has a save percentage of .683 and a goals allowed average of 2.95.
• The Devilettes are coached by N. Fabio Boateng, who is in his second season with the team. He led them to a 4-11-3 record last year.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST MVSU
Little Rock has completely dominated the historical series against MVSU, winning all three games played since 2003. The Trojans have never allowed a goal to the Devilettes, winning those games by a combined score of 18-0. Last year in Little Rock, the Trojans handed MVSU a 9-0 loss.
 
A WIN AGAINST MVSU WOULD…
…be the Trojans' fourth straight in the series…give Little Rock five non-conference victories for the second consecutive year.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SWAC
The Trojans have a strong historical record against teams from the SWAC, boasting a 16-2 mark all-time. The team has gone 7-1 against its most common opponent, UAPB, while holding a 3-0 record against MVSU and a 2-0 record against Alabama A&M and Southern. This will be the Trojans' second of two contests against a SWAC school this year after defeating UAPB by an 8-0 scoreline earlier in September.
 
OUT-ASSITING THE OPPOSITION
Through eight games, Little Rock has held its opponents to only four total assists this year. Despite opponents scoring a total of 10 goals, only four of those goals were assisted. For comparison, Little Rock's 14 goals have seen a total of 13 assists.
 
POINTS FOR PURVINE
Since scoring the game-winning goal in the Trojans' season opener at Tennessee Tech on Aug. 21, Jaclyn Purvine had been quiet offensively. But on Sunday against the Bears, Purvine struck for her second goal of the season to give Little Rock a 1-0 lead. The freshman is now tied for second on the roster in total goals with two and is tied for fourth on the team in total points with four.
 
HATS OFF
Shannon Shields had the best night of her young Little Rock career on Sept. 8, recording a hat trick against UAPB with two goals in the first half and another in the second. Shields also added an assist in the game on a goal by Quin Wilkes in the first half, giving her seven total points on the night. She is the first Trojan to record a hat trick since Lexus VanPelt did the same against UAPB last season.
 
GARUBA GETS GOALS
Besides Shields' big night, another Trojan also got her name in the goals column twice. Fali Garuba scored her first two goals of the season against the Lions after leading the Trojans in scoring last season. Garuba struck in the 13th and 31st minute, moving her immediately up to third on the team in scoring.
 
HELPING FEET
The goal scoring was certainly impressive for Little Rock on Sept. 8, and the passing was just as special. Caitlyn Eddy and Arola Aparicio Gili were instrumental on many Trojan goals, as each of them picked up two assists in the contest. Aparicio's two assists were the first two points of her Trojan tenure.
 
TWENTY-FIFTH IN THE NATION
Thanks to her two assists on Sept. 8 night against UAPB, Trojan freshman Caitlyn Eddy has four assists total on the year. As of Monday morning, that number was good enough to put Eddy in a tie for 25th in the entire country in total assists. Combined with her one goal this year, Eddy is tied for second on the Trojans with six points.
 
DEFENSIVE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
After her first collegiate shutout on Sept. 2 and a 13-save performance against Ole Miss on Sept. 6, Trojan goalkeeper Sara Small was honored on Sept. 8 with the Sun Belt Conference's Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week Award. Small is the first Trojan to win a weekly Sun Belt award this season and is the first for Little Rock since then-sophomore Ariel Galletti was given the Offensive Player of the Week honor in October 2012.
 
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 eight different players have at least one assist this year. All told, 13 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.
 
SMALL LOOMS LARGE
Sara Small had the best game of her college career on Sept. 6 at Ole Miss, making 13 saves against a Southeastern Conference team that attacked almost the entire game. Small even made a save on a penalty kick in the 40th minute, keeping the Rebels off the board. Her 13 saves are tied for the seventh-most all-time in Little Rock history. That performance comes just three days after Small earned her first collegiate shutout in a 1-0 win over Central Arkansas. Before the overtime goal scored by Ole Miss, Small had posted 191 consecutive shutout minutes.
 
IRON WOMEN
The Trojans had five iron women against Ole Miss; five different players never substituted out of the game once and saw all 96 minutes of action. Besides Small in goal, Hali Long, Nora Hellmers, Bailey Fithian and Mikayla Uyokpeyi all stayed in the entire game for Little Rock, fending off attack after attack from the Rebels.
 
PUT EDDY IN THE CORNER
Eddy certainly impressed the home crowd on Aug. 28, scoring a goal directly off a corner kick to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Her shot hooked inward from the left corner, sailing over the arms of Murray State's goalie and going directly in the net without being touched by a teammate.
 
PLENTY OF NEW FACES
The Trojans are almost entirely a new-look team for 2015, as just seven players are returning from the 2014 roster. Goaltenders Sara Cavanagh and Shara Robbins, defender Hali Long, midfielders Kayla Turner and Mikayla Uyokpeyi; and forwards Fali Garuba and Quin Wilkes are the only players back from last year. Joining them will be 20 new faces ranging from freshmen to juniors at every position. Of those 20 players, four come from overseas while 16 are from the United States.
 
NEW ALL-AMERICANS
The most decorated of Little Rock's new players may be freshman Caitlyn Eddy. Coming from Francis Howell Central High School in St. Charles, Mo., Eddy was named a High School All-American by the NSCAA in July. Only 26 girls' soccer players across the country earned the honor during the winter season. Much like Eddy, incoming junior Shannon Shields was also an All-American at her last school. While playing for Pima Community College, Shields was named an NJCAA and NSCAA All-American for her 21-goal, eight-assist sophomore season.
 
BEST SEASON EVER
The Little Rock soccer team made history last year, reaching 11 victories on the season. The previous program record of 10 victories was set in 2007. The 2014 campaign was also the team's first-ever winning season, as that 2007 team went 10-10-2 to finish with a .500 winning percentage.
 
BEST START EVER
After never having started a season better than 4-0-0 in school history, the Trojans more than doubled the school's previous record in 2014. Little Rock started 9-0-0 on the season, by far the best opening to a year in school history. In fact, the Little Rock soccer team had the best beginning to a season of any team in any sport in Trojan history. No other sport at Little Rock has started a year with nine consecutive wins.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Coming soon:

• Mikayla Uyokpeyi's next assist will give her 10 total.
• Shannon Shields is one point away from 10 in her Trojan career.
• Sara Cavanagh is two saves away from 60.
• Quin Wilkes' next point will be her 20th, and she needs just 48 more minutes to reach 1,500.
   

UP NEXT
The Trojans play their final non-conference game of the season on Sunday, traveling to Austin, Texas, to take on the Longhorns. Little Rock and Texas will kick off that contest at 1 p.m.