Opening Draw
Little Rock opens up its 2021 Sun Belt schedule with a pair of home matches this weekend at the Coleman Sports Complex. Little Rock welcomes Troy on Friday, September 17 at 7 p.m. before hosting reigning league champion South Alabama on Sunday, September 19 at 1 p.m.
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Honoring the Seniors
Prior to the game Friday, Little Rock will honor its seniors as the Trojans begin league play for 2021.
Fanney Einarsdottir,
Abril Lucio,
Astros Luckas and
Hilma Svalander will receive their senior gifts prior to the match, while
Bergros Asgeirsdottir and
Natalee Geren will also be honored as the duo will utilize their additional COVID seasons.
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Weekend Recap
Little Rock went 2-1 during its weekend road trip, playing three matches in five days. The Trojans logged a pair of shutouts, defeating Grambling 1-0 Friday before a 1-0 win at Jackson State Tuesday. Little Rock dropped a 2-1 decision at Louisiana Tech Sunday in between the two wins, improving to 3-2 on the road this season.
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Bergros Enters Record Book
Bergros Asgeirsdottir entered the Little Rock record book over the weekend, playing all 90 minutes against Jackson State Tuesday to become the program's all-time leader in minutes played with 7,215. Asgeirsdottir surpassed Jane Picarelli's 7,153 minutes played from 2007-10, playing her 83rd game in a Trojan uniform, which is one shy of matching Picarelli's 84 for the most in program history.
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Big Weekend For Heinen
Freshman
Jana Heinen found her scoring touch over the weekend, scoring goals in back-to-back games on the road. Heinen logged her first career goal in the 55th minute at Louisiana Tech, narrowing the deficit to 2-1, then scored the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute at Jackson State Tuesday. Heinen leads the team with a pair of goals on the year, rankings second on the squad in both shots (10) and shots on goal (six).
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No Goals For You
Little Rock notched a pair of clean sheets over the weekend with the 1-0 victories over Grambling and Southern. The shutouts bring the total to 27 for head coach
Mark Foster in 62 games during his four seasons at Little Rock, upping his career record to 25-23-14 Â (.516)Â with a 14-6-6 (.654) record in home games at Coleman. Foster enters his fourth Sun Belt season with a 12-9-7 (.554) all-time mark in league play, the highest winning percentage in program history.
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Series vs. Troy
Little Rock and Troy meet for the 16th time Friday with the Alabama Trojans holding a 9-5-1 edge in the all-time series. The two teams have split the last four meetings with the home team earning the win – Little Rock winning 2-0 in 2016 and 5-0 in 2018 with Troy winning 1-0 in 2017 and 2-1 in 2019. The Trojans are 3-4 all-time against Troy in Little Rock, winning the last two meetings at the Coleman Sports Complex.
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Series vs. South Alabama
Little Rock and South Alabama meet for the 29th time Sunday, the longest series history in Trojan soccer program history. The Jaguars hold a 20-6-2 edge in the all-time series, including a nine-game winning streak from 2011 through 2017. The Trojans earned a 2-1 win in 2018 at Coleman to end the streak, followed by a 3-0 loss in Mobile in 2019. The two teams battled to a 2-2 tie in the Sun Belt semifinals in 2020, eventually won by South Alabama in penalty kicks, 4-3.
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Trojan Stat Leaders
Heading into conference play, Little Rock has registered six goals on the year, led by two from
Jana Heinen and one each from
Fanney Einarsdottir,
Astros Luckas,
Mariella Stephens and
Jessie Vaden. Stephens leads the team with 15 shots, including 10 on goal, followed by 10 each fromÂ
Bergros Asgeirsdottir and Heinen as Heinen has put six shots on net. Defensively,
Paige Henry has played the last three games, and four on the year, posting shutouts in three of those matches with a 0.50 goals against average and eight saves.
Saskia Wagner has played three games for the Trojans with a 1.24 goals against average and 16 saves.
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