CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina opens home Southern Conference play this weekend hosting Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Friday and Samford at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Catamount Athletic Complex.   

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS:

• Western Carolina has won four of its last five matches with two shutouts in that five-match span.
• Seven different Catamounts have scored in the last five matches and a total of 10 have scored at least one goal in the 10 matches on the year. 
• Junior Regan Ward leads the team with four goals adding an assist scoring nine points. Julia Winter paces the club with four assists, adding two goals for eight points. 
• Western Carolina is 4-1 at home this season. 
• Freshman goalkeeper Melody Mezzina leads the Catamount goalkeepers with a record of 5-2 giving up just nine goals in 644:20 minutes of play. She has three shutouts on the year and 1.25 goals-against average with 23 saves. 
• Western Carolina played in its first overtime match of the season Sept. 27 defeating ETSU 2-1 in double overtime. 
• The Catamounts 7-3 record is the best start for the Western Carolina women's soccer program since 2005 when that club had a record of 8-2 after the first 10 matches of the season. 
• Western Carolina and Chattanooga meet for the 21st time on Friday. The Catamounts hold an overall record of 11-6-3 against the Mocs, however, Chattanooga has bested WCU in the last three meetings. Chattanooga has won the last three meetings by one goal. Chattanooga halted Western Carolina's three-match winning streak defeating WCU 1-0 on Oct. 15, 2016. That victory sparked three-straight for the Mocs which included a 1-0 win in 2017 and 2-1 victory in 2018. Western Carolina is 6-4 against Chattanooga in Cullowhee. 
• The Catamounts opponent on Sunday is Samford who holds a 10-2-1 record over WCU. The Bulldogs have won the last four meetings including a 3-0 shutout of Western Carolina, in Birmingham, Ala., in 2018. Samford has outscored WCU 6-1 in the three-match winning streak. Western Carolina's last win over Samford came in 2015 when the Catamounts defeated the Bulldogs 1-0 in Cullowhee. Overall, WCU is 1-4 against Samford at home. 

AN INSIDE LOOK AT CHATTANOOGA:

• The Mocs are 6-3-2 overall and 1-1-0 in SoCon action after beginning league play with a 3-0 win over Wofford before falling 1-0 to Furman in overtime at home Sunday. Five different Buccaneers have scored two goals on the year.
• Chattanooga has gotten scoring from 12 different players this season.
• Keepers Abbey Saddler and Ashton Shields continue to share time in goal. Shields earned her third shutout Friday with a 3-0 win over Wofford and has a 3-2-1 record while Saddler is 3-1-1 with two shutouts this season. 

› Watch SDN: HERE

› Live Stats: HERE

AN INSIDE LOOK AT SAMFORD:

• Samford will travel to ETSU on Friday before heading to Cullowhee on Sunday to face Western Carolina.
• Three of Samford's last four matches ended in a tie. 
• The Bulldogs are 0-1-2 on the road before facing ETSU on Friday. 
• Taylor Yount leads the Bulldogs with seven goals in 11 matches played and also has one assist. She has a total of 15 points on the season. 
• Samford is 25-1-3 in regular-season Southern Conference matches since 2016.

› Watch SDN: HERE

› Live Stats: HERE

For more information on Catamount women's soccer follow @catamounts (Twitter) for in-game updates and full recaps please follow or go to www.catamountsports.com.