Troy Continues Homestand with Showdown vs. South Alabama, Senior Day Against Georgia Southern

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans soccer program concludes the longest home stand of the season this weekend, when South Alabama and Georgia Southern visit Troy.

On Friday, the Trojans host the first place Jaguars for a 7 p.m. kick from Troy Soccer Complex. All fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink in support of the Trojans cancer awareness night.

Sunday, Troy will host the Eagles for a 1 p.m. Senior Day matchup. Before the match, Troy will honor seniors Maddie Brune, Nathalie DaSilva, Kiersten Edlund, Kate Lorenz, Haleigh Mercer, Grace Mirly, Miranda Schoening and Bri Shackelford for their contributions to the Trojans soccer program.

Troy enters the weekend in third place in the Sun Belt, just two points behind Arkansas State for second place and three points behind South Alabama for the top-spot.

HOW TO FOLLOW: Troy (7-2-3, 2-1-1 Sun Belt) vs. South Alabama (8-2-2, 3-0-1 Sun Belt)
Date: October 4, 2019
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Watch: Watch Live
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Twitter: @TroyTrojansWSOC

HOW TO FOLLOW: Troy (7-2-3, 2-1-1 Sun Belt) vs. Georgia Southern (4-5-1, 1-1-1 Sun Belt)
Date: October 6, 2019
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Pre-Game: Senior Day (approximately 12:40 p.m.)
Watch: Watch Live
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Twitter: @TroyTrojansWSOC

PROMOTIONS:
Friday: First 100 students receive a free slice of pizza and a coke. Two students will have the chance to win a FREE Yeti cooler. Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of Troy's cancer awareness game.
Sunday: Senior Day ceremony. Troy will honor its eight seniors at approximately 12:45 p.m.

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Last weekend, the Trojans returned home for the first time in over three weeks, defeating Georgia State and ULM.

On Friday, Troy started the weekend long goal barrage, by defeating GSU 3-0. In the victory, Alisa Detlefsen gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead in 35^th minute. After halftime, goals by Kendra Cashion and Karina Valeriano pushed the advantage to 3-0 Troy. Senior Haleigh Mercer made three saves to earn her fourth shutout of the season.

The Trojans found the back of the net seven more times on Sunday, defeating ULM 7-1. Freshman Taytum Terrell earned her first career Troy start, and recorded her first three career goals. Freshman Gabby Cossette and Mercer shared the goalkeeper duties, with Cossette earning her first career Trojan victory.

HOME COOKIN':
The Trojans have enjoyed playing at Troy Soccer Complex this season, compiling a record of 4-0-1 this season. Troy has outscored its opponents 19-2 in those matches and has won three straight home games. The four home victories are the most since 2017 and are just two wins shy of equaling the program's second highest home win total. The best season at home in program history occurred in 2014, when Troy went 9-0 at home.

SCORING FIRST LEADS TO POSITIVE RESULTS:
The Trojans are 7-0-2 this season when scoring first, accomplishing the feat in nine of the 11 matches where a goal has been scored. The Trojans have scored the first goal in five of the last six matches (4-1-1), with the lone exception being a 2-1 defeat at Coastal Carolina.

SECOND HALF MAGIC:
The Trojans have been a different team after halftime this season, outscoring teams 18-5 following the break. Troy has answered an opponent's score in four of the five instances. The lone time a team scored a second half goal and Troy didn't respond was a 2-1 setback at Coastal Carolina (Sept. 22).

SUN BELT PRAISE:
Freshman Taytum Terrell was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week this week following her hat trick against ULM. Terrell's recognition marked the first time that a Trojan has been named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week since Julia Winter back on Aug. 29, 2017.

EDLUND'S PASSING PROWESS:
Senior Kiersten Edlund has dished out eight assists so far this season, which is the third most nationally entering this weekend's action. She is just three assists away from breaking Alissa Jones' single-season Troy assist record (10) and needs just four more helpers to break the all-time assist mark (17) also set by Jones. Edlund recorded a pair of assists in both games last weekend.

A WHOLE LOT OF GOALS:
Friday's matchup with South Alabama will feature the top-two scoring teams in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars have recorded 31-goals this season, while the Trojans have scored 29-goals. Through the first four Sun Belt Conference games of the weekend, Troy has scored a league-best 12 goals and recorded 34 total points (8.5-points-per-game). The Jaguars have scored seven SBC goals, and recorded a league-best 72 shots.

BEAT SOUTH:
The South Alabama Jaguars enter Friday's matchup with a record of 8-2-2 overall and are currently 3-0-1 in Sun Belt Play. Senior's Justice Stanford (GK) and Brianna Morris have led the charge this season for South. The goalkeeper has allowed just seven goals all season and is riding a 423-minute scoreless streak dating back to the second half of USA's matchup with Ole Miss (Sept. 15). Her 0.58 goal-against-average leads the Sun Belt Conference and is currently the 28^th best mark in the nation. The keeper has yet to allow a goal in four Sun Belt matches this season. Morris has scored a conference-best nine goals this season and is one of five Jaguars with at least 20 shots this season.

FLY EAGLES FLY:
Georgia Southern enters the weekend in fifth place in the Sun Belt Conference, having recorded four points. The Eagles and Trojans have played two common non-conference opponents (UAB and Stetson) and two common SBC foes (Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State) so far this season. Georgia Southern dropped games to UAB (1-0), Stetson (4-1) and App State (2-1). Last weekend, the Eagles defeated Coastal Carolina on the road, 1-0. Senior forward Frida Brattum has led the Georgia Southern attack so far this season, scoring five of Ga Southern's 14 goals. In goal, Lauren Karinshak has handled most of the goalkeeping duties, starting seven of the Eagles 10 games. The senior has allowed 11 goals in her seven starts.

GED TALKS:
"It's a big weekend because it's our senior weekend and it's the last opportunity for those seniors to play two home games in a weekend. Everyone talks about the South/Troy games, which makes it very easy to put too much emphasis on Friday night. We need to keep a firm line and treat both of the games this weekend the same. Every game is vital. There's no point in coming into one game focused and ready if we're going to let down the next one. So, every game is important. We're looking forward to two good matches over the course of this weekend. Tomorrow night should be a good game in front of another large Friday night crowd. We're looking forward to the team."

On why the team is playing so well at home:
"Obviously we're undefeated at home up until this point. I think the crowd is a big part of that. The girls like the routine we have at home and we try and do as good a job of preparing the girls both on the field and off it in our home environment. I don't think you can say enough about the quality of the fans in the stands."

On the senior class and their contributions:
"This class is a very interesting and unique set of women. We've got so many different types of players. We have international kids, Americans, All-Americans, kids that have transferred in and goalkeepers. There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that each of these kids have sacrificed for this program. I'm immensely proud of them. It's been an honor and a privilege to watch them grow as people in the time that I've had with them. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to coach each of these kids."

Troy Continues Homestand with Showdown vs. South Alabama, Senior Day Against Georgia Southern

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Brune

Kendra Cashion

Alisa Detlefsen

Kiersten Edlund

Kate Lorenz

Haleigh Mercer

Grace Mirly

Miranda Schoening

Bri Shackelford

Taytum Terrell

Karina Valeriano

Troy University Athletics