CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After clinching the 2023 Southern Conference regular season championship last week, the Western Carolina women's soccer team travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face mountain rival East Tennessee State in the 2023 regular-season finale at 2 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium.
Sunday's match will be streamed on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with free live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
WCU (10-3-3, 7-1 SoCon) downed VMI 4-0 on Senior Day last Sunday for the school-record sixth straight win. Later in the afternoon, the Catamounts clinched the regular-season title after nine-time defending champion Samford and Sunday's opponent ETSU battled to a 1-1 tie in Birmingham, Ala. The regular season conference crown is the first for the Catamount program since earning a portion of a three-way tie in 2001.
On Tuesday, senior
Alexis DeMarco was named the Southern Conference Women's Soccer Player of the Week for the first time in her career. The Charleston, S.C., native scored a goal in both of WCU's victories last week and also netted the game-winning goal in the 3-0 win at The Citadel. DeMarco is the third Catamount player to win a weekly award this season and gave WCU its third straight Offensive Player of the Week honor after
Naya Marcil took the honor on consecutive weeks, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10.
ETSU (9-2-5, 5-1-2 SoCon) drew 1-1 on the road against Samford on Oct. 15. The Bulldogs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute thanks to an own goal before the Bucs tied the match with a goal by Ava Matherne in the 59th minute. The Buccaneers enter the weekend tied with Samford for second-place with matching league ledgers and 17 points apiece. While ETSU hosts WCU, Samford entertains fifth-place Chattanooga.
Sunday's match is the 21st all-time meeting between the Catamounts and Buccaneers with WCU holding a 10-8-2 advantage. The Catamounts earned a 1-0 victory in Cullowhee last season thanks to a goal by
Abbie Lainhart.
As part of their regular-season title, the Catamounts will host the 2023 Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Oct. 27 at 4 and 7 p.m. and a semifinal match on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. at the on-campus Catamount Athletics Complex. The complete tournament bracket will be announced by the league office following the conclusion of regular-season play this weekend. WCU will draw the winner of the Oct. 24 first-round matchup between the No. 8 and No. 9 seed. As the top seed, the Catamounts have the advantage of hosting any match they play in the championship tournament with the winner claiming the SoCon's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
