Cullowhee, N.C. -- The Western Carolina soccer team begins its tournament title defense Friday night as the Catamounts open the Southern Conference tournament with the eighth-seeded Wofford Terriers for the second year in a row. Kick of Friday's second quarterfinal match is set for 7 p.m. on the pitch at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
Quarterfinal Friday in Cullowhee opens with the #4 Mercer Bears facing the #5 Chattanooga Mocs at 4 p.m.. The #8 Terriers earned their place in the quarterfinals after going blow-for-blow with the #9 VMI Keydets for a 3-2 play-in game victory Tuesday night.
Friday's Matchup:
#1 Western Carolina (13-2-3, 8-0-1 SoCon) vs #8 Wofford (6-11-2, 1-7-1 SoCon)
Cullowhee, N.C. | 7:00 p.m. | Catamount Athletic Complex
Live Stats:
https://tinyurl.com/pa6bd8uy
Watch (ESPN+):
https://tinyurl.com/y8hfhnd5
Looking Around the Southern Conference :
Friday, Nov. 1
#1 Western Carolina vs #8 Wofford, 7:00 p.m. - Cullowhee
#2 Samford vs #7 UNCG, 5:00 p.m. - Birmingham, Ala.
#3 Furman vs #6 ETSU, 8:00 p.m. - Birmingham, Ala.
#4 Mercer vs #5 Chattanooga, 4:00 p.m. - Cullowhee
Quick Cuts
The Purple and Gold will face the Black and Gold for the 31st time in program history and the second time this season. Western Carolina carries a strong 20-7-3 record in the series with the Terriers and most recently earned a 6-1 win over Wofford in Spartanburg. The last matchup between the two teams to be played in Cullowhee resulted in a 5-0 WCU victory in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament last season.
The Catamounts filled the box score in the regular-season matchup with the Terriers, outshooting the conference foe 25-7 while putting 15 shots on frame to Wofford's two. However, the Terriers snapped the WCU's nine-match shutout streak, recording the only goal against the Purple and Gold in conference play this season.
Players to Watch:
WCU attacked from all angles in the road win this season, though
Isabella DeMarco and Sofia Goclowksi led the offensive effort. The duo posted braces in the match with DeMarco striking first in 3' and 13' minutes, while Goclowski knocked in the third and sixth goals of the day in the 18' and 57' minutes.
Kirsten Hahn and
Milla Syska recorded the other two goals in the dominating 6-1 victory.
Alexis DeMarco,
Kirsten Hahn,
Sophie Burchfield, and
Ava Robitaille all scored in the 5-0 win in the quarterfinals last season.
Defensively, the recently named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Ava Robitaille will look to make her presence felt in the middle of the field while
Becca Campbell,
Mary Mueth,
Samantha Whitaker, and
Abbie Wise hold the line in front of anchor GK
Leanne Trudel. The Catamount defense rolled eight shutouts in conference play this season and did not allow a goal the entirety of last year's SoCon tournament championship run.
The Terriers are led offensively by Ines Obradovac, who ranks fourth in the conference with 20 points this season. The junior striker has put up nine goals so far this year and has chipped in two assists. Megan Childress recorded a brace in a high scoring 3-2 battle with the VMI Keydets during the tournament play-in game Tuesday, though it was Sydney Soehn who lit up the cage against the Catamounts in Spartanburg.
Defensively, freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Navola has started every game in conference play this season, including the matchup with VMI. She's recorded 74 saves and has a 2.00 goals against average, though that number jumps to 3.07 in conference play.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
A win on Friday night would propel the Catamounts to the Southern Conference tournament semifinals for the second straight season. They would face the winner of the match between #4 Mercer vs #5 Chattanooga for a championship berth.
