The Basics

Score: Western Carolina 1, VMI 0

Records: Western Carolina 11-7, 5-4 SoCon; VMI 1-15-2, 0-8-1 SoCon

Location: Patchin Field, Lexington, Va. 

LEXINGTON, Va. – Western Carolina women's soccer closed out the regular season with a 1-0 Southern Conference victory at VMI Sunday at Patchin Field. 

Western Carolina earned the No. 5 seeded heading into the 2019 Southern Conference Championship and will travel to Macon, Ga. to face No. 4 seed, Mercer, on Nov. 3 at 4 p.m.

Turning Point:

Western Carolina scored the lone goal in the match at the 58th minute. 

Individual Leaders

• Senior Julia Winter scored the only goal in the contest. It was her second game-winning goal of the season.  
• Freshman Rea Syska had the assist on Winter's goal. 
• Rookie goalkeeper Melody Mezzina got the start in the match playing 45 minutes of shutout soccer. 
• Junior goalie Natalia Icen replaced Mezzina in the second half sealing the Catamounts shutout with four saves in the contest. Icen took the win and improves to 4-1 on the year.

Inside the Box Score

• Western Carolina played an aggressive first half with 12 shots in the opening 45 minutes. The Catamounts ended the contest with 18 shots. 
• Winter broke open the scoreless contest scoring Western Carolina's game-winning goal at 58:19. Syska crossed the ball to Winter who shot the ball into the upper left corner from 15 feet out. 
• The Catamounts held VMI to four shots in the first half as the Keydets did not get a shot on goal in the first 45 minutes. VMI ended the contest with 10 shots and had four on goal in the second half. 

News & Notes

• The blanking of VMI is Western Carolina's sixth shutout of the season. 
• Western Carolina has now won all seven meetings with VMI – all with a shutout.
• Winter's goal was her fourth of the season – a season-high for the Catamount. She is now tied with junior Regan Ward for most goals on the season. 
• Winter also leads the team in most points on the season with her four goals and four assists for 12 points on the year.
• Western Carolina is 3-2 over the last five matches.
• The Catamounts' 11 wins this season is the most under Head Coach Chad Miller. The 11 wins are also the most for a Western Carolina club since the 2008 team ended the year with 13 victories.  
• Western Carolina's No. 5 seed is two places higher than the No. 7 seed predicted for the Catamounts in the SoCon coaches' preseason poll earlier in the year. 

Up Next

As the No. 5 seed, Western Carolina will face No. 4 seed Mercer Nov. 3 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Championships. 

For the latest information on Catamount women's soccer, follow @catamounts on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com.