PREVIEW: #9 Women’s Soccer homestand continues with First Responder Night vs. WVSU

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 13th-ranked Catawba College women's soccer team returns to Frock Field for their third game of a season-opening five-game homestand on Wednesday night, hosting West Virginia State. The game serves as the team's First Respnder night, recognizing local first responders in honor of the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

THE MATCHUP

Who: West Virginia State (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MEC) at #13 Catawba (2-0-0, 0-0-0 SAC)

Where: Frock Field, Salisbury, N.C.

When: 7 p.m.

How to Follow: FloSports ($) | Live Stats

THE HISTORY

- Catawba and West Virginia State have never met

SENIOR SEPTEMBER STUD

- Senior Kelly Havens earned WePlayed Sports SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, repeating as the league's defensive player of the week in the opening week of the season after doing the same after scoring the game-winner over King last fall

- Havens scored a goal in both of Catawba's wins over the opening weekend, following her own saved shot for the opening score in the top-15 win over Embry-Riddle; added an insurance score in the 3-1 win over GCSU on Sunday

CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT

- This week marks the 33rd consecutive week Catawba is nationally ranked by United Soccer Coaches, dating back to September 2021

- The streak nearly triples the program's previous longest streak of 13 weeks (Sept. '04-Sept. '05)

- The Catawba Indians rose to ninth in the most recent USC poll, marking the fourth consecutive year Catawba has earned a top-10 national ranking

- As good as Catawba has been since 2021, they've been even better at Frock Field, posting a 31-1-5 mark in the last four seasons at home

NEW PLACE, FAMILIAR FACE

- While Catawba and WVSU have never met, it doesn't mean individual players aren't familiar with each other

- Savannah Singh and Hailee Smith were members of the women's soccer team at Notre Dame College in Ohio, which competed with the Yellow Jackets as members of the Mountain East Conference

- Both Singh and Smith played at least 85 minutes in both regular season and conference tournament action with the Yellow Jackets; both players' final game with Notre Dame was the team's overtime loss vs. WVSU

PUSHING THE RIGHT BUTTONS

- Five of Catawba's six goals in their first two games were scored in the second half

- Catawba and ERAU were locked in a scoreless tie at half before exploding for five combined goals in the second half

- 38 of Catawba's 71 goals (54 percent) last season were scored in the opening 45 minutes

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS

- Like Embry-Riddle, West Virginia State prefers a slower pace, allowing just 19 goals in 19 games during the 2023 season

- The program has been remarkably consistent for such a young program, recording double-digit wins in each of the program's four full seasons since its first competitive season in 2019

- The Yellow Jackets graduated their leading goal scorer and All-Atlantic Region selection Esther Dhiramo, but return Kenyan senior Ammy Mwasambu, who recorded an impressive nine goals in less than 600 minutes, a goal per 64 minutes of game action

- WVSU struggled to find their footing offensively in the opener, however, recording just six shots in the 1-0 loss to Bloomsburg on Saturday

UP NEXT

- Following Wednesday's standalone date with the Yellow Jackets, Catawba turns its attention to Montevallo, who visits the Frock on Saturday at 5 p.m. for Youth Night