CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel soccer squad will continue its conference season with a pair of home matches this weekend, squaring off against archrival VMI on Friday at 3 p.m. and UNCG on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Both matches are set to be played at WLI Field.
As with all home matches this season, both of this weekend's matches against the Keydets and the Spartans will be carried live on the ESPN+ platform. As part of the soccer's program's Game Ball Sponsors initiative, Friday's match will be sponsored by Chris Manzione and Sunday's match is supported by Joe Detyens (The Citadel Class of 1978).
The Bulldogs (6-6-2, 0-3 SoCon) will be trying to break out of a four-match skid this weekend with their first victory since Feb. 19 against Jacksonville. Three of The Citadel's losses during the current streak have come by a single goal, including last week's golden goal setback in overtime against Mercer.
Against the Bears, the two sides battled to a scoreless draw at the half before
Leanne Bryant found the breakthrough for The Citadel in the 66th minute, taking a long solo dribble through the defense before firing into the top left corner for the 1-0 lead. Mercer equalized on a penalty kick 14 minutes later and then scored the decisive golden goal just under two minutes into overtime to deal the Bulldogs a 2-1 setback.
VMI (1-3-2, 0-3-1 SoCon) has not captured a win since a 5-0 victory in its season opener at Southern Virginia on Feb. 23 but has earned a pair of 1-1 draws since then at Davidson and ETSU. Last weekend, the Keydets dropped a pair of home contests against Furman (2-0) and Wofford (4-2) in Lexington.
Whitney Edwards-Roberson leads VMI with four goals and nine points this spring, and both Kiley Cropper and Maggie Beckman have netted a pair of goals. Sarah Anschutz has dished out a team-best three assists, and Edwards-Roberson leads the squad in both total shots (10) and shots on goal (7).
In goal, Sidney Swoope has seen the lion's share of minutes, playing 515 of a possible 580 minutes this spring. Swoope has surrendered 11 goals with 26 saves and owns a goals against average of 1.92.
VMI holds a slim 7-5 edge in the all-time series, but The Citadel has won each of the last two matches between the two sides and will be looking to win three straight in the rivalry for the first time in program history with a win on Friday. In each of The Citadel's five wins in the series, the Bulldogs have scored multiple goals; in the seven losses, The Citadel has been shut out six times.
UNCG (1-3-2, 1-2-1 SoCon) has just one win this season, a 2-0 victory over Western Carolina on March 7. The Spartans earned a scoreless draw with Wofford and suffered a 1-0 defeat against Furman in their two matches last weekend and have struggled to score at times this season, scoring only three goals across their six matches.
Ashley Avelino is the lone Spartan to find the back of the net twice this season, and Hannah Morton Eliza Radoll and Rachel Rouse have each notched one assist apiece. Morton and Nicole Souply lead the team with eight total shots, but Caroline Woods has put the most on target with four.
Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper has started four of UNCG's six matches between the posts, making 20 saves and giving up just three goals for a 0.59 goals against average.
The Citadel will be trying to claim its first-ever win against UNCG on Sunday as the Spartans have won each of the previous 19 meetings. In the most recent bout between the two sides, UNCG earned a 4-2 win in Greensboro on Sept. 27, 2019.
The Citadel will wrap up its regular season road slate in its next time out next weekend, traveling to Chattanooga next Friday at 4 p.m. and then to Samford on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs will be looking to snap losing skids against both sides; The Citadel has not defeated Chattanooga since 2014 and will be seeking its first win over Samford since the 2013 campaign.
