Cullowhee, N.C. – Nagging drizzle turned to steady rain on Thursday night but neither could douse the red-hot Catamounts who maintained their undefeated home record with a 1-0 shutout victory over Presbyterian at the Catamount Athletics Complex in the penultimate nonconference match of the regular season.

WCU advanced to 4-2-2 on the season with the win and have been rolling defensively in its last four outings, not conceding a goal in the last 360 combined minutes of play. The Catamounts handed the upstart Blue Hose their first road defeat on the season which also coincided with PC's first loss in four tries against teams from the Southern Conference.

Western Carolina came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, peppering the Presbyterian cage with eight shots in the first 13 minutes of play. That early onslaught culminated with Milla Syska's fifth goal of the season that eventually proved to be the game-winner in the 1-0 slugfest.

Alexis DeMarco started the scoring play with a stretch pass ahead to her sister, Isabella DeMarco, who continued the run up the near side. The SoCon's defending Offensive Player of the Year drew an audience as she converged on the cage, allowing her to deposit a pass to the middle of the box where a cutting Syska collected and fired into the lower right of the cage past a diving PC keeper, Kelly Hall who otherwise finished the night a career-high 13 saves.

Isabella earned the primary assist with Alexis recording her first point of the season on the secondary assist on Syska's goal. It marked the first time that the DeMarco sisters had combined with assists on the same goal.

WCU eclipsed the 20+ shot threshold for the fifth time this season, though the two teams battled in the second half, with the Blue Hose continuing to press the attack for the equalizer. Presbyterian was outshot 21-11 on the night, all three of their shots on goal came in the second half though the Catamount backline and Leanne Trudel stood strong for their fourth-consecutive shutout. 

How it Happened: 

The Catamount trifecta of Milla Syska, Isabella DeMarco, and Naya Marcil took command of the match early on with Syska posting the first scoring opportunity of the night just 50 seconds after the Presbyterian kickoff. The three combined the barrage on Presbyterian goalkeeper Kelly Hall in the first 13 minutes of the night with eight shots, six of which were on goal but only five were turned aside as Syska lit up the cage for the Catamount goal.  

The pace of play slowed after the initial rapid-fire opening with the two teams combining for only eight more shots over the final 32 minutes of the opening half as the rain began to intensify heading into halftime. As the rain picked up, so did Presbyterian's push for the tying marker but the Catamounts managed to keep the guest side of the ledger clean.

Naya Marcil nearly came away with her third goal of the 2024 campaign just 20 seconds into the second half, taking the Purple and Gold's first opportunity in the final 45. Hall kept Presbyterian within a marker by turning away the attempt for one of her career high 13 saves on the night. Presbyterian countered with two shots of its own, courtesy of Lina-Marie Müller, though neither shot found their mark. The theme of the second half quickly turned to corner kicks as Presbyterian continually pushed into Catamount territory, aggressively searching for the equalizer. The Blue Hose took three corner kicks in a three-minute span from the 47th-50th minute, though WCU prevented any true scoring opportunities on the attacks.  

Leanne Trudel recorded her first save of the night in the 60th minute, denying the Presbyterian shot from Ella Williams. The Canadian-born keeper collected three saves in the shutout win, facing 11 total shots on the night. Over the final 30 minutes, the two teams traded shots and scoring opportunities, combining for six shots on goal (and six saves) in the final stretch of the night.  

Presbyterian's final scoring opportunity of the night came in the 85th minute when Ella Williams once again placed a shot on target, but was turned away by Trudel as the Catamounts advanced to 3-0-1 at the Catamount Athletic Complex this season, with all of their home games coming against Big South Competition.  

Catamount Notables: 

• The Purple and Gold backline consisting of Becca Campbell, Mary Mueth, Samantha Whitaker, Abbie Wise, and Leanne Trudel has strung together four consecutive shutouts, the program's longest such stretch since 2009 (W, 2-0 – vs. Jacksonville State; 0-0 vs. UNC Asheville; W, 2-0 – vs. Davidson; and W, 1-0 – vs. Georgia Southern) … It is only the fourth streak of four or more shutouts in program history, with the record of five consecutive shutouts set by the 2008 team;
• WCU took 21 shots on the night, its fifth game of 20+ shots this season and the sixth of 19-plus offerings … the Catamounts put 14 shots on goal in the home bout, their second highest SOG output in a game this season; 
• The Catamounts were the first SoCon team this season to defend their home pitch against Presbyterian, who had previously taken a 3-2 win at Wofford, a 2-1 win at Furman, and a 3-0 win at The Citadel; 
• The trio of Isabella DeMarco, Naya Marcil, and Milla Syska combined for 14 shots (10 on goal) in the 1-0 win with Syska earning her 5th goal of the season ... DeMarco notched her third assist of the year while Alexis DeMarco earned her first point of the 2024 campaign; 
• Senior forward Maggie Lloyd made her first appearance for the Catamounts since the season opener at Florida, where she suffered a lower body injury … Lloyd recorded nine minutes of relief effort in the 1-0 win.

Up Next for The Catamounts:

Western Carolina remains at home to close the nonconference portion of its schedule while also honoring a strong senior class on Sunday, Sept. 15 as it faces the Winthrop Eagles at the Catamount Athletics Complex. Kick off on Sunday is scheduled for 2 p.m. with a special senior ceremony scheduled before the match.