Francis Marion Game Information (Friday, Aug. 24 – 7 p.m. – WLI Field)
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+) | Weekend Notes (PDF)
Presbyterian Game Information (Sunday, Aug. 26 – 7 p.m. – Clinton, S.C.)
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+) | Weekend Notes (PDF)
CHARLESTON, S.C. – After opening the 2018 campaign last weekend with a 2-0 mark, The Citadel women's soccer team will play host to Francis Marion on Friday, Aug. 24 before opening up a three-game road trek that begins at Presbyterian on Sunday, Aug. 26. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ with kickoff against the FMU Patriots slated for 4 p.m. and the tilt with the Blue Hose of PC scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs are coming off the first win in program history over North Florida after taking Sunday's game 3-2 at WLI Field. In that game, freshman
Mel Mikoy found fellow freshman
Kessy Bradshaw with a perfectly-placed free kick into the box. Bradshaw deftly put head to ball without the ball taking a bounce, and slipped the ball past the defender for the first score of the game in the 10
th minute. The play earned a No. 3 ranking for the opening weekend from NCAA Soccer and has been viewed close to 10,000 times across various social media channels, including over 4,900 alone on NCAA Soccer's Instagram page (@NCAASoccer).
Redshirt junior
Katherine Arroyo opened the season by scoring three goals on the weekend, including a pair of game winners. The forward from Guacima, Costa Rica is currently tied for 15
th in program history with seven career goals and is tied for 10
th with two game-winning goals.
Friday's game against FMU will count for The Citadel's season record, but will be marked as a non-counting exhibition for the Patriots. The Citadel and Francis Marion have met on the soccer pitch three times with all three matches being held in Charleston. The Patriots, who competed at the NCAA Division I level in women's soccer through the 2015 season before dropping down to the NCAA Division II level prior to the 2016 campaign, hold a 2-1 lead over the Bulldogs in the all-time series. The 'Dogs won the most recent meeting, 4-0 back on Sept. 13, 2015. The two first met on Sept. 16, 2006, with FMU claiming a 2-0 win. The two programs didn't meet again until the 2013 campaign with FMU winning in overtime, 4-3.
The Patriots are guided by third-year head coach
Lindsey Morgan, who was an assistant at Appalachian State for four years prior to taking the head gig in Florence. The Patriots return their top three goal scorers from a season ago, highlighted by sophomore forward
Kylie McElroy. McElroy scored five goals and had three assists for 13 points on the year as a freshman. Also back are fellow sophomores
Dayle McEwen and
Megan Misuraca. Both McEwen and Misuraca scored four goals a season ago with McEwen finishing the campaign with 11 points, including three assists. Also back in 2018 are both goalkeepers,
Janine Gordon and
Micahla Kitchen. The duo split time fairly evenly between the pipes last season, both appearing in nine contests. Gordon logged just over 686 minutes in goal, with a goals against average of 2.62 to go along with 35 saves while Kitchen logged 594 minutes over nine games with a 3.03 goals against average and 51 saves.
The Blue Hose of Presbyterian College hold a 4-1 mark over the Bulldogs with the 'Dogs winning for the first time in the series last season, 3-2, on Sept. 3. The two first met on Sept. 14, 2007, with PC claiming a 5-0 victory in Charleston. The first meeting in Clinton came two seasons later, on Sept. 11, 2009, with the Blue Hose winning 1-0.
Presbyterian is coached by
Brian Purcell, the only head coach the program has known in 29 years. Last season, the Blue Hose finished the year 3-13 with a 1-6 mark at home. Presbyterian lost the top two scorers from that campaign, but the next four on last year's scoring summary return, highlighted by senior
Kelsey Yeager, who started all 16 games while scoring two goals to go along with a pair of assists. Sophomore
Jessica Powell, who led the team with 26 shots a season ago, brings back two goals scored. Sophomores
Samantha Britt and
Peyton Patterson are the final two returners to have scored multiple goals last season. Of the three goalkeepers the Blue Hose utilized last season, only
Alyssa Leaman returns after starting seven matches, logging 480 minutes between the pipes. She had a 2.43 goals against average and 34 saves on the season.
COMING UP
Following this weekend's action, the Bulldogs will take on two other Bulldog teams on the road. The Citadel will first travel to Orangeburg for a midweek tilt with South Carolina State. The first Battle of the Bulldogs will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 29 with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. It will mark the final game of the month of August for The Citadel. The 'Dogs in Citadel blue will then travel to Asheville, North Carolina for the second Battle of the Bulldogs, this one against UNC Asheville. The game against UNC Asheville is slated for Sunday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m.
14 SOCCER GAMES TO APPEAR ON ESPN+ OR ESPN3
14 of The Citadel's 18 contests will be streamed live on either ESPN+ or ESPN3 this season. Seven of the Bulldogs' home games will be carried on ESPN+ while three home games will appear on ESPN3.
The games that will be streamed live on ESPN+ will be at home against North Florida (Aug. 19) and Francis Marion (Aug. 24), at Presbyterian (Aug. 26), at UNC Asheville (Sept. 2), at home versus Bob Jones (Sept. 7), Hampton (Sept. 9) and Jacksonville (Sept. 14), and the home games against UNCG (Sept. 28) and Mercer (Oct. 5).
The games that will appear on ESPN3 will include at Samford (Sept. 21) and at Chattanooga (Sept. 23), at home against VMI (Sept. 30), and the final two home contests against Western Carolina (Oct. 19) and ETSU (Oct. 21).
Both ESPN3 and ESPN+ can be accessed via the ESPN App across most internet-connected media devices, or on ESPN.com.
ABOUT ESPN+
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For more information and updates on The Citadel soccer team's season, visit CitadelSports.com and follow @CitadelWSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
