TROY, Ala. (KAIT) – Goals by Darby Stotts and Sarah Strong separated by less than six minutes were the difference as the Arkansas State women’s soccer team downed Troy 2-1 Sunday afternoon at the Troy Soccer Complex.
With the win, A-State improves to 4-4-2 on the season, 2-1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. Troy dropped to 2-5-2 overall, 0-2-1 in league action. The win sees the Red Wolves move to 17-3-2 (.818) over the last 22 regular season Sun Belt Conference matches.
Haley Husted had a throw just past midfield and found Emma Riley about 40 yards from the goal for a flick ahead where Stotts raced past the Troy backline and slotted the ball past the Trojans keeper for the go-ahead marker at 56:46. Stotts deposited her third career goal and second in as many games while Riley and Husted each logged their fourth assists of the season.
Less than six minutes later, A-State increased the lead to 2-0. Phoebe Harpole won a battle for the ball on the right side and dribbled up the sideline before feeding the ball to the center of the box. Strong raced up the middle of the field and collected the feed from Harpole and put away the goal with a strike to the top left corner of the goal. Strong scored her fourth career goal, third this season, while Harpole earned her first career assist.
Troy got on the board at 78:36 with a goal off a corner kick. Gabrielle Chartier served the ball from the left side and Nia Wilson got her head on it and the placement found the top right corner of the goal for the marker. The Trojans had another corner kick from the same spot just two minutes later, but Luther pounced on the ball near the goal line to preserve the 2-1 advantage.
Olivia Luther (3-2-1) earned the win in goal making five saves on six shots faced. Troy out-shot the Red Wolves 13-10 on the game and had a 6-5 shots on goal advantage. Troy scored their lone goal off one of five corners while A-State took two corner kicks in the match.
The Red Wolves visit Georgia Southern Sunday, Oct. 2, with kickoff at 11:00 am (CT) before returning to the A-State Soccer Park to host Louisiana on Thursday, Oct. 6. For the latest on A-State women’s soccer, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateSoccer), Facebook (/AStateSoccer) and Instagram (@astatesoccer).
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