SBC Tournament Seeding on the Line as Trojans Travel West

TROY, Alabama – For the majority of Sun Belt Conference teams, this weekend marks the final opportunity to rise or fall in the league table as all but four teams wrap up regular season play ahead of the conference tournament set to begin on Nov. 1 in Foley, Ala.

Little Rock travels to South Alabama on Oct. 27 while Troy faces Georgia Southern on Oct. 29 in a pair of games that were originally postponed due to poor weather to officially close the curtain on the 2017 regular season. The immediate task at hand for the Trojans, however, stands in the form of league-leading Texas State.

The Bobcats, with 21 points in conference play, have won six consecutive matches, but have a bit more work to do before claiming the regular season title. South Alabama sits in second with 18 points with Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State lurking in third with 13 points each. Troy has amassed 12 points and is currently fifth.

Troy squares off against Texas State on Friday at 7 p.m. in San Marcos before tracking back east to take on UL Lafayette on Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW (Texas State)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Live Video: TXStateBobcats.com
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Twitter: @TroyTrojansWSOC

HOW TO FOLLOW (UL Lafayette)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Live Video: RaginCajuns.com
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Twitter: @TroyTrojansWSOC

SERIES INFO
Texas State
Overall: Series tied 3-3
            At Troy: TROY leads 2-1
            At San Marcos: TXST leads 2-0
            At Neutral: TROY leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 16, 2016 – Troy won 2-1 (at Troy, Ala.)

SERIES INFO
UL Lafayette
Overall: Troy leads 8-4-1
            At Troy: TROY leads 4-2
            At Lafayette: Troy leads 3-2-1
            At Neutral: TROY leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2016 – UL Lafayette won 3-2 (at Troy, Ala.)

ABOUT THE OPPONENT (Texas State)
Having won six consecutive matches, TXST enters the weekend 9-4-1 overall, 7-1-0 in the SBC and sitting in first place with 21 points and a 3-point advantage. Rachel Grout leads the Bobcats with seven goals and 19 points. She tied for the team lead of five assists with Kassi Hormuth. The back-to-back SBC Offensive Player of the Week honoree is second on the team with six goals, 17 points, 35 shots and 17 shots on goal. She comes in with 44 career points, the ninth most in program history.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT (UL Lafayette)
The Ragin' Cajuns currently sit in eighth place due to tiebreaking scenarios as their eight points puts them even with Little Rock but due to the Cajuns beating Arkansas State and Little Rock losing to the Red Wolves. UL Lafayette owns the breaker over the Trojans.

The one x-factor for the Cajuns playoff picture is the matchup with South Alabama who neither Little Rock or the Cajuns have played yet. It makes Friday's match rather important for UL Lafayette as Little Rock will be playing South Alabama next Friday, Oct. 27, in a makeup match from a canceled match due to severe weather situations earlier in the season.

It means that depending on the Cajuns' results this weekend their chances of making it into the Sun Belt Conference tournament could be decided on the tiebreaking scenarios created by both team's records against South Alabama.

NOTEWORTHY
• With a shutout, Mikki Lewis takes sole possession of third in Sun Belt Conference history with 31 career clean sheets.

• Troy is third in the Sun Belt with 24 goals scored this season. The team also tops the conference with 75 corners.

• The Trojans have not dropped a match in Lafayette since 2006. Troy is 3-3-1 on the road this season.

SBC Tournament Seeding on the Line as Trojans Travel West

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Players Mentioned

Mikki Lewis

Troy University Athletics