Trojans Set for Sun Belt Tournament Opener on ESPN3

Sun Belt Quarterfinals Game 20: Little Rock vs. ULM
Date	November 2, 2016
Time	1 p.m.
Location	Foley, Ala.
Stadium	Foley Sports Tourism Complex
Stats	Statbroadcast
Video	ESPN3
Notes	Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK – An already historic season for the Little Rock soccer team could get even more memorable this weekend, as the Trojans are set to take on the Sun Belt Tournament in Foley, Alabama, beginning on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Little Rock, earning the No. 3 seed in the field with its highest-ever conference finish, will take on No. 6 seed ULM at the Foley Sports Tournament Complex at 1 p.m. in the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals. The game will be the second of the tournament.
 
The Trojans' season has already been a huge success, with the team tying its best-ever win total with 11. Little Rock also set a new program record with six conference regular-season victories.
 
Little Rock is on a roll against Sun Belt foes, going unbeaten in its last six conference games and scoring at least two goals apiece in those six games. The Trojans' success boosted them to a program-record RPI of 83 last week.
 
Though the team's RPI has dropped slightly to No. 85 in the nation, that drop came because of a very tight 1-0 loss at Big 12 Conference-member Oklahoma State last Tuesday to close the regular season. In that game, Little Rock held strong defensively for 87 minutes before the Cowgirls finally scored their game-winning goal. Sara Small had six saves in the loss. Oklahoma State is No. 43 in the national RPI rankings.
 
Little Rock's opponent on Wednesday, ULM, is one of the few Sun Belt Conference teams to hand the Trojans a loss this year. Back on September 23 in Monroe, the Warhawks earned a 1-0 victory over the Trojans thanks to a 63rd-minute goal from Alexiss Trudeau.
 
Despite losing, Little Rock outplayed ULM for the duration of the match, outshooting the Warhawks 15-10 with a 12-5 edge in shots on goal. ULM keeper Brooke-Lynn Scroggins made 12 saves in shutting out Little Rock.
 
Scroggins has the most saves in the Sun Belt this year with 124, and her save percentage of .855 is second-best in the league. The Warhawks' offense, though, is less impressive. The team scored just 15 goals on the year, tied for the fewest in the league. ULM finished the season 7-8-3 and went 4-4-2 in Sun Belt play.
 
A victory on Wednesday would advance Little Rock to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2009. The semifinal game would take place on Friday at 4 p.m. against either No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina or No. 7 seed Arkansas State.
 
KICK OFF

• Little Rock ended its Sun Belt Conference season by earning the league's No. 3 seed.The No. 3 seed is the highest the Trojans have ever been.
• Besides earning its first-ever No. 3 seed, Little Rock tied a program record for wins in a season with 11 and set a new program record for conference wins with six.
• Sara Small allowed just one goal in the last three games and now has a 0.80 GAA for the season. The team's 0.82 GAA and Small's individual 0.80 GAA are both single-season program records.
• The Trojans saw four players honored with All-Sun Belt selections on Tuesday, the most in a single season in team history. One player was on the All-Sun Belt First Team and three earned Second Team honors.
• Little Rock has not lost in its last six conference games, earning five wins and one tie in that span.
• The Trojans have scored at least two goals in the last six conference games, setting a new program record for consecutive games with at least two goals.
• Little Rock's RPI is No. 85 in the nation this week, two spots lower than last week's program-record 83.
• Arola Aparicio scored yet another goal on October 21, taking over the team lead for goals on the year with five.
• The Trojans 10-7 all-time against ULM, though the Warhawks won the teams' only meeting this season by a 1-0 score.