CULLOWHEE, N.C. – No. 3 seed Western Carolina women's soccer faces off against No. 6 seed UNCG at 8 p.m. Friday at Stone Stadium on the campus of Furman University.
 
The two teams will face each other for the second time in five days as the Spartans took the final regular-season match Oct. 24 1-0 over the Catamounts.
 
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AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS:

• Western Carolina's No. 3 seed is the highest for the Catamounts under Head Coach Chad Miller. It is the highest seed for a WCU team since a No. 2 seed in 2008. The Catamounts were picked sixth in the coaches' preseason poll finishing three spots above the prediction.
• Western Carolina and UNCG meet for the 31st time on Friday. Last week the Spartans pushed their winning streak over the Catamounts to five straight with a 1-0 win at Greensboro. The Spartans have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with one tie mixed in, 2-2 in 2-17. Overall, UNCG holds a 24-3-3 record against WCU. Western Carolina's last victory over UNCG came in 2012 in Greensboro with the Catamounts winning 1-0. This will be the eighth meeting between Western Carolina and UNCG in the conference tournament. The Spartans have won six of the seven previous meetings with the Catamounts winning on PKs to win the 2008 SoCon Tournament. 
• The Catamounts have shut out opponents eight times this season which is the most since the 2008 team had nine shutouts.
• Western Carolina is 6-2 in road matches on the year – the most by a Catamount team since the 2013 club also had six.
• Western Carolina's 10 wins on the season moves the team to a tie for sixth place for most Catamount wins in a season. The 10 victories this season is the 2nd most in Head Coach Chad Miller's tenure. 
• Graduate transfer Valentine Pursey leads the team with eight goals on the season. It is the most goals since former Catamount Megan McCallister recorded 10 goals in 2017. Her eight goals ranked tied for fourth in the SoCon and six of her goals were in conference matches ranking her tied for second.
• Senior goalkeeper Ashlee Owens has started a career-high nine matches this season including the last four of the season. She has a record of 4-4 on the year and recorded the first shutout of her career in the 3-0 win against Chattanooga on Oct. 17. She followed that up with a 1-0 shutout against VMI on Oct. 22. She has a career-high 37 saves on the season and a 0.80 goals-against average in the conference-only matches.
• Western Carolina is 5-3 all-time in SoCon tournament quarterfinal matches.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT UNCG:

• With 1-0 win over Western Carolina on Sunday, Oct. 24, UNCG earned the No. 6 seed and avoided dropping into the play-in matches held this past Tuesday.
• The win over WCU halted the Spartans three-match losing streak.
• UNCG has only won one match on the road this season with a record of 1-5-2.
• UNCG has scored 14 goals on the year and given up 19.
• Caroline Woods leads the Spartans with four goals.
• UNCG goalkeeper Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper broke the Spartan record for saves in a career in the 2-1 loss to UNCG Oct. 22. She now has 354 saves.

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