By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. —BOONE, N.C. – Freshman Olivia Simon tallied the sixth hat-trick in Mountaineer program history Sunday, part of a five-goal second half, helping App State to a dominant 5-1 victory over Marshall to remain unbeaten at home.
App State (6-4-3, 3-1-2), went into halftime trailing 1-0, but wasted little time flipping the switch. Off a corner kick three minutes into the second stanza, Simon pounced on a Marshall (6-6-1, 1-5-0) clear attempt at the top of the box, and drilled a low line drive shot through traffic into the bottom left corner of the net, to tie the score at 1-1.
The equalizer was Simon’s first career goal, but she was just getting started on the afternoon. Later in the second half, Simon buried the go-ahead goal, curling a shot from the far side of the field, just inside the near post, to give the Mountaineers their first lead, in the 65th minute.
Just two minutes later, Izzi Wood carried the ball down the near side of the field and drew the Marshall defense forward before feeding a pass in front to Simon who completed her second-half hat-trick in the 67th minute of play.
Simon’s three goals tie an individual program record for goals in a match, and she becomes the first App State player since Sam Childress in 2014 against Liberty to tally a hat-trick.
The Mountaineers kept their foot on the accelerator, looking to build on their 3-1 lead. In the 79th minute, Wood notched her team-leading sixth goal of the season, using her left foot to fire home a goal, following a beautiful thru-ball from Felicia Erkenfeldt.
Then, following the ensuing kickoff, the Mountaineers won possession right back, and Katie Fuller played a ball to Shannon Studer along the far side of the field. Studer dribbled past her defender before firing a shot into the top-right corner from 30 yards out, to put the exclamation mark on the win.
The five goals that App State scored in the match are the most since 2019 when the Mountaineers topped UNC Asheville, 6-0 on Sept. 1. App State is now 5-0-2 at home this season and have outscored their opponents 13-2 on the turf at The Valley. Sunday’s win was the Mountaineers’ sixth of the season, which equals their win total from 2022 with four games still remaining in the regular season.
App State will travel to Norfolk, Va., Friday where they will face off with Old Dominion at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
