Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's soccer retained its spot atop the Southern Conference standings and finished off just the second undefeated home season in program history after battling to a scoreless draw with Blue Ridge rival East Tennessee State Thursday night at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
The draw gives the Catamounts a 10-2-3 overall record including a 7-0-2 mark at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The seven wins are tied for the second-most in program history matching the 2005 team and trail only the 10 wins earned by the 2001 Catamounts in their undefeated home season at Schrader Field that sits adjacent the current home pitch.
WCU is now 5-0-1 in SoCon play and has 16 points with three matches to go in the 2024 regular season. The Catamounts are tied with Samford in points but have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Yellow Hammer state representative. The Bulldogs have two games remaining in the regular season.
Despite outshooting the Bucs 23-6, the Catamount offense was unable to string strong scoring opportunities together as both teams combined for five shots on goal through the physical rivalry bout. No Catamount had more than one shot on goal in the match, though Sofia Goclowski, Milla Syska, and Naya Marcil posted six, four, and three shots respectively.
Syska recorded perhaps the Catamounts' best scoring opportunity of the night in the 90' minute. With time dwindling, the junior striker blasted a shot from outside the box just high, sending the ball careening off the top woodwork, coming just shy of her fifth game-winning goal of the season.
Defensively, the Catamounts turned in one of their best statistical performances of the season as they contested ETSU's attack throughout the night. WCU limited the Buccaneers to just six total shots throughout the match and conceded a single shot on goal through the full time. The one shot on goal is the fewest allowed by the Catamounts in a match this season as the Purple and Gold hasn't allowed double digit shots on goal yet in the 2024 campaign. All four starting backliners Becca Campbell, Mary Mueth, Samantha Whitaker, and Abbie Wise went the distance in the tenth shutout of the season.
Catamount Notables:
·The 7-0-2 record posted at home is one of only two undefeated seasons in WCU's program history, joining the 2001 team in the exclusive honor (10-0) … the 2024 Catamounts are the first to post an undefeated home record at the Catamount Athletic Complex which first opened in 2005;
·Goalkeeper Leanne Trudel and the Catamount defense earned their tenth shutout of the season and the 19th of Trudel's career ... She is now tied with Alesha Row for the second-most shutouts in a career and trails only the legendary Caitlin Williams
who had 28 career shutouts;
·The Catamounts posted 20+ shots for the 11th time this season ... the Purple and Gold are 9-0-2 when they erupt for more than 20 shots in a match.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
Western Carolina closes out the 2024 regular season on the road, starting with the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Sunday afternoon. The Catamounts then face the Furman Paladins on Thursday, Oct. 24 for a 7 p.m. kick in a rescheduled league match before closing the regular season in Chattanooga against the Mocs on October 27.
