PREVIEW: #9 Women’s Soccer looks to return to winning ways vs. Montevallo

Salisbury, N.C. —- The 9th-ranked Catawba College women's soccer team looks to bounce back from a tough-luck draw against West Virginia State on Wednesday when it returns to Frock Field to continue its season-opening five-game homestand against Montevallo.

THE MATCHUP

Who: Montevallo (1-1-0, 0-0-0 GSC) at #9 Catawba (2-0-1, 0-0-0 SAC)

Where: Frock Field, Salisbury, N.C.

When: 5 p.m.

How to Follow: FloSports ($) | Live Stats

THE HISTORY

- First-ever meeting between Montevallo and Catawba is on Saturday

TREE TROUBLE

- Catawba's three opponents have had trouble limiting Catawba's Bree Ehmer so far this season, as the reigning SAC Freshman of the Year has recorded points in each of the three outings so far this season

- The sophomore netted her first goal of the season Wednesday on a penalty kick

SET-PIECE SPECIALISTS

- Six of Catawba's seven goals this season have been scored on set pieces, with three of seven coming on or directly following penalty kicks

- Last year's team converted six penalty kicks in 23 games; this year's team's 23-game pace is nearly 16 made penalty kicks

- Additionally, six of seven Catawba goals this season have been scored in the second half

SENIOR SEPTEMBER STUD

- Senior Kelly Havens earned WePlayed Sports SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, scoring in both of Catawba's wins over the opening weekend

- Havens earned the season-opening SAC Defensive Player of the Week nod for the second straight season, also earning the honor in the opening weekend last season after netting the game-winner over King on Sept. 2

CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT

- This week marks the 33rd consecutive United Soccer Coaches poll that has featured Catawba, dating back to September 2021

- The streak nearly triples the program's longest streak to 13 weeks from Sept. '04 to Sept. '05

- The Catawba Indians' ninth ranking this week ensures the fourth consecutive year Catawba has earned a top-10 national ranking

- Catawba is 31-1-6 at The Frock since the start of the '21 season

NEW PLACES, FAMILIAR FACES

- Despite Catawba and Montevallo never meeting before Saturday's matchup, both sides do have some familiarity with players and trips to Catawba

- Montevallo's Erika Pay and Catawba's Niki Farizy were teammates at Christian Brothers University just last season

- Montevallo's Bear Bradbury and Catawba's Gabby Cossette teamed up for the 2022 season at Division I Troy University

- UM's Ciara Duff was a reserve goalkeeper last season for North Georgia, who made two separate trips to the Frock, the second of which was the epic NCAA Tournament Second Round overtime victory for Catawba in November

SCOUTING THE FALCONS

 - After splitting games in their opening weekend, Montevallo enters Saturday's contest relatively fresh as they took the mid-week off; Catawba is playing their fourth game in nine days on Saturday

- Like WVSU on Wednesday, Montevallo figures to be a strong defensive team, allowing just 15 goals in 20 games a season ago

- While the team lost four of its five leading point-recorders from a season ago, it returns leading offensive threat Lainey Farabaugh, as well as a host of impact transfers in sisters Bear and Rilee Bradbury from Troy and Azusa Pacific, respectively, as well as Shadia Valenzuela from Lipscomb

UP NEXT

- Next week, Catawba turns to conference play, facing Carson-Newman in their SAC opener to close their five-game season-opening homestand on Wednesday at 5 p.m.