Trojans Close-Out Regular Season at Texas State, Louisiana

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans soccer program closes out the 2019 regular season this weekend with a pair of road contests at Texas State (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Louisiana (Sunday, 3 p.m.).

Looking to win or share the program's first Sun Belt Conference title, Troy needs a pair of outright victories this weekend and either a South Alabama loss or tie against Appalachian State on Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW: Troy (10-2-4 Overall, 5-1-2 Sun Belt) at Texas State (8-6-2 Overall, 4-3-1 Sun Belt)
DATE: October 24, 2019
KICKOFF: 7 p.m.
LIVE STATS: TroyStats.com
TWITTER: @TroyTrojansWSOC

HOW TO FOLLOW: Troy (10-2-4 Overall, 5-1-2 Sun Belt) vs. Louisiana (7-6-3 Overall, 3-3-2 Sun Belt)
DATE: October 26, 2019
KICKOFF: 3 p.m.
WATCH (E+): https://gotroy.us/2WaIv2z
LIVE STATS: TroyStats.com
TWITTER: @TroyTrojansWSOC

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Troy played just one Sun Belt Conference match for the second consecutive week, defeating Little Rock 2-1 last Thursday evening. After allowing a late first-half goal to Little Rock, the Trojans responded with two second half goals to drop Little Rock.

Senior Kate Lorenz fired a shot from 25-yards out in the 67^th minute to tie the match at one. Just 16-minutes later, Troy took the lead for good when freshman Melissa Kuya-Strobel took a perfect pass from Kiersten Edlund and slotted a shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. The goal was Kuya-Strobel's fifth of the season which leads all Sun Belt Conference freshmen.

EDLUND MAKES HISTORY:
Senior Kiersten Edlund set the single-season Troy assist record in last Thursday's match, break Alissa Jones' mark (10) set back in 2014. Edlund's 11 assists are the second most helpers in the country behind Jimena Lopez (12) of Texas A&M.

GOALS IN BUNCHES:
The Trojans have scored 38 goals through the first 16 matches of the season, after tallying just 18 in 20 matches a season ago. The Trojans 109 points are the 14^th most in the country, and Troy's 38 goals place them in the top-20 nationally.

TEXAS TWO-STEP:
The Texas State Bobcats saw a four-match unbeaten streak snapped last Sunday at Georgia State, falling 1-0. They enter the weekend with a record of 8-6-2 overall and 4-3-1 in the Sun Belt. Following Friday's game with the Trojans, Texas State will host Georgia Southern on Sunday at Noon. Projected to win the Sun Belt in the preseason poll, Texas State features the SBC Offensive Preseason Player of the Year (Kaylee Davis) and the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year (Heather Martin). Following a 18-goal output in 2018, Davis has recorded six tallies and three assists so far this season. After recording a save-percentage of .919 and making 91 saves in 19 matches, Martin has continued to be a strong presence in net, recording a goals-against-average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .885. The Bobcats have scored 16 goals this season and have allowed just nine goals all season which is the fewest goals allowed in the Sun Belt this season. Texas State is currently in fourth place in the Sun Belt standings trailing third place Arkansas State (15 points) by two points and the second place Trojans (17) by four points.

RAGIN' CAJUNS:
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend with a record of 3-3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference so far this season and an overall mark of 7-6-3. The most physical team in the SBC, Louisiana has been whistled for 175 fouls this season by far the most of any team in the conference and 14 yellow cards which also leads the Sun Belt. Currently in fifth place in the crowded standings, they trail fourth-place Texas State by two points and can finish as high as second in the final SBC standings. Karleen Bedre and Skyla Sykes have provided most of the offense for the Ragin' Cajuns tallying eight combined goals and seven assists. Makenzie Lee has allowed 21 goals in 16 games so far this season factoring in all of the decisions this season. Louisiana hosts Georgia Southern on Friday before wrapping up the season against Troy on Sunday.

GED TALKS:
"This trip, much like the trip up north to App State and Coastal, is extremely difficult. Hopefully this time we can perform better than we did that Sunday at Coastal. We need to take it one game at a time. It's a long trip and our preparation is key. We need to make sure the girls are getting their rest, eating correctly and staying hydrated. Friday night's matchup is against a very strong and athletic team while Sunday is going to be a completely different style of play so it's going to be interesting to watch how our girls respond to the two different styles. We have a chance to finish with more Sun Belt points than any team in program history which is the goal. If we end up winning the conference that would be great, but it's out of our hands. We just need to take care of what we can control."

On the matchup with Texas State:
"You see it in every single game, it only takes one moment of brilliance and they certainly have the talent to be dangerous with a player that scored 18 goals last year. So, we'll have to do a great job of defending [Kaylee Davis] because certainly she can strike for a hat trick very easily if we're not defending properly. If we control what we can control, we can make it much more difficult for Texas State to be successful. That's what we're focusing on heading into the match."

On Sunday's matchup at Louisiana:
"I've coached a team that has led the nation in yellow cards so I'm not too worried about how our girls will respond to a physical match. We practice with contact and hard so the girls should be ready. We have Kiersten who leads the conference in assists and is extremely dangerous off set-pieces so if they give us a set-piece in their half we feel very confident that we can score off it. I don't think we have a group of players that will be intimidated by the type of match. Every time we get a free-kick in the other team's half we feel confident that we can take advantage of it. You saw it against Little Rock last week when we set up the game-winning goal off a set-piece."

Trojans Close-Out Regular Season at Texas State, Louisiana

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Players Mentioned

Kiersten Edlund

Melissa Kuya-Strobel

Kate Lorenz

Troy University Athletics