In a very physical, hardfought match the Arkansas State soccer team took down in-state foe Little Rock 1-0 to remain undefeated on the season Thursday afternoon at the A-State Soccer Complex.  

The Red Wolves (5-0 overall, 4-0 SBC) are off to their best start in program history and have now beaten every team in their division including Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana, Texas State and Little Rock. A-State is set to play each divisional opponent again before the Sun Belt Conference tournament. 

Freshman Abigail Miller scored her first goal in her Red Wolves’ career and the match’s only goal in the 65th minute after a beautiful move from A-State. OIivia Smith played Sarah Sodoma down the wing and Sodoma used her pace to beat Little Rock’s stellar center back Natalee Geren. A-State’s all time leading goal scorer crossed the ball into the box along the ground. The ball missed the oncoming Hailey Furio but Miller tucked away a cool, left footed finish into the bottom corner. 

“It felt so good,” Miller said. “All of the team has really been giving me confidence to keep going and score like every single halftime and every time after a game they’re like, ‘Gail just shoot, just shoot.’ Today it actually happened and I was able to finish a goal for the win.”

Miller finished the opportunity with clinical precision and the excellent finish came on the freshman’s weaker left foot. 

Normally a defensive midfielder for A-State this season, Miller actually started at center attacking midfield for the Red Wolves against Little Rock. With Sophia Restrepo’s departure from the team, multiple Red Wolves have had a go at the position. 

Against Texas State Sept. 27 Hannah Maupin started there, but A-State head coach Brian Dooley said in training the team has been trying to find different combinations. Maupin is more defensive while Miller sees the game differently in a more offensive position.

“I liked playing it a lot more,” Miller said. “Up there you can kind of do a lot more towards the goal and score more. It just can do a lot more for the team with me up there. Defensively I pass the ball more and give other people the ball but up there I can take the ball for myself. It was fun playing up there.”

A-State posted its third consecutive shutout and fourth overall shutout of the season. The Red Wolves have only let in one goal so far all year.

Against Little Rock, Julianna Coates finally played significant minutes in the back line. 

Coates made her season debut against Texas State in a limited role after injury problems in the offseason. Coates played 63 minutes against Little Rock at center back. 

“You know I’ve just been nursing the injuries back and finally getting that first substantial amount of minutes really felt good after all this time,” Coates said. 

Last season Coates formed a dominant center back partnership with Dana O’Boye and this season another excellent partnership is forming with freshman Rachel Kutella. 

“She’s a beast back there,” Coates said. “As soon as (Rachel) came in I knew we would work great together. I was really happy to find another player I could vibe with back there. She’s been doing really well.”

Senior goalkeeper Megan McClure posted her 15th shutout in A-State’s goal and looked very commanding in her box once again to help the Red Wolves on their way to another clean sheet. 

“It’s a big deal,” Coates said about the clean sheet. “We like to pride ourselves on good play and keeping people out of our net. It’s a really big ego booster to have a clean sheet.”

Dooley said the plan was to give Coates 20 minutes a half, but with a couple of other players not as ready to play, Coates played a big chunk of the match. 

“She’s a battler, she’s a tackler, she wins the ball in the air,” Dooley said. “She does all the things that’s required whether she’s a hundred percent or not. Today I thought we pushed it but I think she was certainly mentally prepared.”

The was not A-State’s prettiest win of the season. Offensively the Red Wolves found it really hard to break down Little Rock’s back line. Trojan center backs Geren and Julia Edholm made it hard for A-State around the box.

“It took a while to get going,” Dooley said. “I think our forwards were pretty stagnant today. We didn’t get the movement that we needed. Little Rock plays with such a low, tight block of defense that if you don’t have the movement you get into all these individual battles all over the field. It took us a great part of the match before we could really penetrate and go after that.”

Dooley said Little Rock is known for being really good defensively and he noted the performances of freshman goalkeeper Saskia Wagner and Geren at center back. 

“The new goalkeeper they have is very good,” Dooley said. “She’s athletic and controlling of her defense. Number two (Geren) I thought played a really good game for them. We were maybe trying to go after her a little bit more but I thought she withstood the pressure.” 

On the offensive side of the ball, Little Rock hit the woodwork twice in the match. First, Abril Lucio hit the post in the 22nd minute before Lucio almost netted the equalizer in the 89th minute but hit the woodwork once again. 

“An ugly win is better than a pretty loss,” Dooley said. “Soccer purists you know, possession, keeping the ball and moving the ball and all that stuff but dying in beauty doesn’t get you any points. Our kids dug down today and found a way to get the result.”

Last season, including a SBC penalty kick shootout win against Texas State, the Red Wolves played in six overtime games. They have yet to play in a single one this season.

“In the past we’d be looking at overtime,” Dooley said. “You know last year we had all kinds of overtime games. Then you play an overtime game the first game of the weekend then you have to get ready to travel and play another game. It just takes stuff away from you. The fact we haven’t had to do that yet says a little bit about the urgency we have and the power we have within the structure of our group.”

A-State started five freshmen against Little Rock and once again from the back line to the midfield and up top the young Red Wolves were an important part of the performance.

“We don’t care if you’re a freshman or a senior,” Dooley said. “We just care that you give your effort and that you find ways to help your team. It just shows that (the freshman) are certainly capable of the pressure that comes with it.”

A 5-0 start to the season including four divisional wins could have major implications come postseason play. The Red Wolves look to keep their first place position in the next half of conference matches.  

“We got through the first half of conference play so we’re in first place in our division,” Dooley said. “First place gets a bye in the first round and we get to play a team that has to play on Monday. So that is something that you have to strive for, it matters. The second half is going to be a lot more difficult.” 

Looking ahead

The Red Wolves travel to ULM Sunday to take on the Warhawks for the second time this season. A-State opened conference play against ULM with a 6-1 win in Jonesboro. 

Kick off from Monroe is set for noon.

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