The Citadel Week 2 Notes
SoCon Weekly Notes

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel women's soccer team will be back in action this weekend for a pair of home games at Washington Light Infantry (WLI) Field.

The weekend starts with a 4 p.m. kickoff against Alabama A&M on Friday, Aug. 25, and will conclude with a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Aug. 27, against South Carolina State. Friday's game will feature "Free Popcorn Friday," a promotion that will continue for all Friday matches throughout the soccer season. The game against S.C. State is a makeup after the game was postponed last weekend due to expected high temperatures in the Charleston area on the original date.

"This weekend is going to be a very good test for us as it will be the first time a lot of our players will be playing two games in the span of 48 hours," head coach Ciaran Traquair said. "Preparations have gone well so far this week and we tweaked a few things that we struggled with against Hampton. We hope to have a quick start on Friday against Alabama A&M and to be able to utilize our depth so that we are fresh and ready to go on Sunday against South Carolina State."

Friday's meeting between The Citadel and Alabama A&M will be just the second meeting in program history between the two Bulldog teams. The first meeting came last year in Huntsville, Alabama, with The Citadel coming away victorious, 2-0 in the second match of the season. The shutout was the second of the 2016 campaign for The Citadel and helped the Bulldogs in blue record five shutouts on the year. It was also part of three straight wins to open the season, marking the best start in program history for a Citadel soccer team.

Alabama A&M was tabbed ninth of 11 teams in the 2017 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs in maroon and white are led by first-year head coach Emanuel Stephens and come into Friday's game 0-1 on the year after dropping their season-opener 2-0 at home to Winthrop on Friday, Aug. 20. Dating back to last season, Alabama A&M has dropped three straight games and six of their last seven with the lone win being a 5-0 SWAC victory over Alcorn State on Oct. 21, 2016. Last season, Alabama A&M went 3-15.

Sunday's matchup between The Citadel and South Carolina State will be the 13th meeting between the two Bulldog programs. In the previous 12 meetings, The Citadel boasts an 11-0-1 record against S.C. State with the lone positive result for S.C. State coming on Sept. 14, 2011, when the two teams worked to a 0-0, double overtime draw. The two programs met every year from 2001 to 2011, but didn't meet on the soccer pitch again until 2014 when The Citadel won 3-2 at home. At WLI Field, the Bulldogs of Charleston are 6-0 and have out-scored S.C. State 26-7, including an 8-1 win on Sept. 18, 2004 and a 3-0 win on Sept. 12, 2006.

South Carolina State comes into the weekend 0-1 after falling 8-0 at East Tennessee State in the season opener on Friday, Aug. 18. The Bulldogs from Orangeburg were out-shot 29-4 with just one shot on goal while the Buccaneers had 23 shots on goal. S.C. State is led by fifth-year head coach Sandra Burris. In 2016, the Bulldogs went 3-11-2 with wins over Wofford, USC Aiken and Hampton to go along with ties with USC Upstate and Delaware State. S.C. State scored 17 goals with Jacqueline Beristain, Mary Pierce and Jamey Thomas all recording three goals and all three return in 2017. Both Beristain and Pierce finished the 2016 season with seven points as they both added an assist while Alexandra Kidd led all Bulldogs with three assists.

The Citadel kicked off the 2017 season on Friday, Aug. 18, with a 5-3 win over Hampton University at WLI Field in the season-opener for both programs. The Citadel (1-0) took 25 shots with 18 being on goal compared to just seven total shots, five on goal, for Hampton (0-1). The Citadel wasted little time jumping on the board as midfielder Caroline Cashion collected a rebounded ball near the top of the box and sent a rocket into the back of the net in just the third minute. The time to score was the sixth-fastest time for a Citadel soccer player by a mere second behind the fifth-quickest score. Freshman Kaeley Johnston (1-0) got the start between the pipes for the Bulldogs and made two saves on the afternoon to earn her first collegiate win.

In total, seven freshmen saw action on the pitch in the season-opener against Hampton for The Citadel with five earning their first collegiate start (Johnston, Kate Manzione, Maria Contreras, Hope Mack and Hannah Roth). All seven freshmen who played contributed solid minutes and the eight took 16 of the Bulldogs' 25 shots. Contreras, Roth and Logan Dix each recorded their first collegiate goals.

The Bulldogs open the 2017 season with seven straight matches played on their home pitch, WLI Field. The long home stand continues through Sunday, Sept. 10 when The Citadel hosts Alabama State.

For more information on The Citadel soccer team, follow @CitadelWSoccer or visit CitadelSports.com.